My Story:
How many times have we all shared stories of our past with our family, and left out details and events that seemed very important then, and now, not so much....
I left for BYU in August of 69. I really wanted to go, but in many ways I think it was a mistake....I married Shane in 72, and graduated in 74 with a degree in Secondary Education. We lived in the Salt Lake area while I taught Ballet and gave birth to 5 beautiful children in 6 years and Shawn worked on his Masters. We eventually moved to a small town in Eastern Utah, where I finally was able to use my degree and teach English, dance and drama at Union High, and Utah State. My marriage was always troubled, and due to many factors, mostly physical abuse, I divorced shane in 84 and moved to California with 5 young children. My oldest was recovering from Luekemia, and my
3rd was diagnosed with Epilipsy. Life was difficult, but I fell in love with California...I still love California. Needless to say, I left the Mormon Church, began to dance, perform, compete, design and study Buddhism. Big leap..Oh, and I became a Democrat...In 88, I met my husband Shawn and 5 years later we married in San Diego, and had our last baby girl, Jaime, who is now 24 and a wonderful Theatrical performer herself.(she sings!) She graduated from UCLA with honors in Biological Anthropology in 2016 and is now working on Masters in Evolutionary Psychology. Shawn is a Dentist, recently retired and had a practice in Rancho Bernardo which we sold 2 years ago. He grew up in San Fransico, but was born in Iran, and immigranted when he was 6. Although he is a Bahai, his grandparents were Shite Muslims. Merging our families was complicated. Shawn is the love of my life, and together we raised 6 wonderful children Our two oldest sons live in Utah with thier wives and children. 3 live here in San Diego, and Jaime, our baby lives in LA. We have 13 grandchildren, and enjoy them all, especially our youngest, Sawyer, born to our 1st daughter, Maury Leigh. He just turned a year old and my my phone is loaded with his pictures. I would be remiss not to mention LuLu our T-Cup poodle that never leaves our side. If my life was defined by themes and music, it would be about relationships, (all of them), the arts, and philosphical study. I am passionate about History, Science, books, Politics, Language, Design, my family, and Buddhism. 11 years ago, I was contracted to dance on a cruise ship. It was great fun...but I came home ill, and nearly died of Viral Cardiomyapthy. Untill then, I was defined by my art. I was a dancer, wife and mother. I have learned that I am so much more. 2 years ago I had an accident, that once again nearly took my life. I broke my back in 5 places, crushed my R Tibia plateau, tore a ligament in my hip, and the Meniscus in my R knee. 3 surgeries later I’m still recovering. I’ve read many books and swim as often as I can. We have a beautiful home in the hills of Del Dios in north county, San Diego. Shawn and I spend much of our time in our yard with the family. He has yet to learn to dance with me (a simple Foxtrott?) but he has not left my side since I Fell. He’s become a wonderful cook and gardener. Life gets better every day.
