I’m a teacher at heart and someone who believes that every person we meet and every place we’ve been shapes who we are. My life has been anything but ordinary. I was born into a very strict religious community, and at thirty-six, I made the life-changing decision to step away and see the world beyond it.

Armed with two graduate degrees from Xavier University in Theology and Humanities, I began teaching in the Weekend Degree Program, guiding non-traditional students through the deep, sometimes challenging waters of Theological Foundations. For fourteen years, I had the privilege of helping students think critically and see their own potential in ways that often surprised them.

Teaching taught me just as much as I ever taught my students. In my classroom, respect was the foundation, and connection was the goal. Many of those young adults learned to challenge long-held beliefs, and together we witnessed those “lightbulb” moments: the ones that change the course of a life.

So Much More is my partial autobiography and a reflection on leaving a closed society and embracing freedom. The Town of Tiny Hope is the flip side of my writing world. It is pure imagination, where people and animals share a village and a heart for one another. While one is my real-life journey and the other is in whimsical storytelling, both carry the beauty of connection.