I married Ray Murff in September of 1972 and we had our beautiful love child, April, in November of 1973.  We packed up our blue VW van with a bright yellow sun painted on the side and moved to Jacksonville Beach, Florida for a couple of summers and enjoyed the vagabond hippie lifestyle there and got amazing tans. We owned a surfboard, a water bed that folded up like an air mattress, two bicycles (one with a baby seat on back) and a husky dog, Sam, who used to walk the balcony rail of our second floor apartment facing the ocean when we left for work every day.  (He never fell!)  Oh, the ignorance, fearlessness and courage of our unencumbered youth!  It is too true that youth is wasted on the young.

We later moved to St. Augustine Beach, Florida and lived in an old hotel that had been converted into apartments.  It had a magnificent courtyard right out of old New Orleans.  We had a total blast there and met some of the most colorful characters I’ve ever known.  Most of our neighbors attended an acting school nearby, for deaf actors, that is.  We learned quite a bit of sign language.  Have you ever attended a party on the beach with a crowd of stoned hippies and 20 people talking in sign language?  I only wish we’d have had video cameras back in the day!   We’d surely be rich right now from winning “Funniest Home Videos”.

We finally got tired of moving around and working odd jobs, so we settled down and moved back to Louisiana.  Ray became an LPN, and I got a degree in Business.  Our second daughter, Sarah, was born in 1979. 

In the late 80’s we moved to central Louisiana and have stuck here since.  Both of our daughters graduated from Northwestern in Natchitoches and are amazing school teachers. 

I still read insatiably, write poetry every chance I get and occasionally blog, mostly about the books I read.  I have five herb gardens from which I make teas, home remedies and potpourri.  I’m an amateur nature photographer (one of my photos of a Sphinx Moth drinking from a Moonflower is displayed at the Botanic Garden of Smith College). Ray is semi-retired and keeps busy with his artwork.  He’s painted ever since high school and has sold quite a bit of his work at local showings.  We have three grandchildren, Taylor, who is now 11 years old, Mary Mace who is 3 ½ and Warner, who is 4 months. 

Life is a fabulous journey and God has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams, for which we thank Him daily.