I am a writer and high school English teacher at a Catholic, all-girls private school. I began my teaching and writing career over 30 years ago, earning my Ph.D. in English Education from and first teaching at New York University. After I finished my degree work, my husband and I moved to Florida; I have taught at both Nova Southeastern University and The University of Tampa.
I left academia to raise two beautiful daughters and help care for my parents, which is when I turned to blogging to help me process my experiences. I started in 2003 with a LiveJournal entitled "Afternoons with Coffee Spoons" which I eventually translated over to Wordpress. In 2019 I was invited to join "The Gloria Sirens" blog, which gave me space to develop my voice.
Over the past few years, as I have raised teenagers and gone back to teaching, my writing has become more focused on the interplay of the Catholic faith, mystery, and storytelling. This has, in 2025, led me to return to writing exclusively for my own blog where I can more fully explore "Every Grace and Blessing" that God has bestowed upon me and those I love.
You are overwhelmed and haven’t learned to be your own friend through this yet. You will. Your fear of jumping without a net is so valid, and the trick you haven’t learned yet is that that’s life, always and everywhere. There are no nets. Life is a big, long free fall, and the sooner you can embrace what is beautiful about that, the sooner you will start to enjoy the ride. –Sara Bareilles
Sometimes life just hits you, right in the face. And it’s alright. Because I, for one, think it’s kinda cool to have a black eye now and then. And I think it’s definitely okay to have scars, and it’s definitely okay to hurt, and be in pain and show it. And that’s why we have friends in this life. And it’s why we have music. –Haley Williams
Let’s take some of our free time to play at doubting what we are naturally inclined to believe, and believing what we are naturally inclined to doubt. I guarantee that if nothing else, it will help us better argue for what we believe, and against what we doubt, with more reason and passion.
Well, we have a whole new year ahead of us. And wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all be a little more gentle with each other, a little more loving, and have a little more empathy, and maybe, next year at this time we’d like each other a little more. –Judy Garland
Past and Present I know well; each is a friend and sometimes an enemy to me. But it is the quiet, beckoning Future, an absolute stranger, with whom I have fallen madly in love. –Richelle E. Goodrich
Dear world,
I am excited to be alive in you, and I am thankful for another year.
–Charlotte Eriksson
Midnight on New Year’s Eve is a unique kind of magic where, just for a moment, the past and the future exist at once in the present. Whether we’re aware of it or not, as we countdown together to it, we’re sharing the burden of our history and committing to the promise of tomorrow. –Hillary DePiano
What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven’t even happened yet. –Anne Frank
When you start to think of all the things that should have been better this year, remember the mountains and valleys that got you here….Those moments weren’t in vain. You are not the same, you have grown and you are growing….You are wrapped in boundless grace. And things will get better. There is more to you than yesterday. –Morgan Harper Nichols
Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. –Maria Robinson
The Gloria Sirens 