I was married in November 1965 to a 1964 Borah graduate, Chuck Wallace. Together we had three children; two girls and a boy.  We moved to Salt Lake City Utah, where I attended nursing school and graduated in 1971.  I moved back to Boise in 1973 as a single Mom with three kids and worked at the Boise V A Hospital until 1981.  In 1980 I married Stacy Smith and adopted his autistic son Bryan.  I also became stepmother to his 2 daughters who resided with us.....that is 6 kids!!  We were transferred to Onalaska, Wisconsin where I became a foster parent to several medically involved and mental health involved children.  We were then transferred to Olathe, Kansas in the KC Metro area......then to Iowa and back to Kansas.  I had an opportunity to attend college and started in 1991 and completed in 1995 with a B.S. in Special Education, Behavior Disorders from Avila University in KC,MO.  I loved my job and excelled with this type of student. I even taught in Juvenile Detention for a year!!  I taught in a special school for students who were unable to have success in a regular school.  I thrived on this challenge and was named Northeast Kansas Special Education teacher of the year by the Council for Exceptional Children.  I also received a Crystal Apple Award given to only 5 teachers in the KC Metro Area per year.  I treasure those awards.  I retired in 2012 and miss the students every day.  I now have 12 grand chilldren and 3 great grandsons! Stacy and I were married for 34 years--very happy and very busy years.  I continue to work part time as a pharmacy technician at a local pharmacy and as a tax preparer for H & R Block here in Gardner, a small town in Kansas.  I still have family in Boise and come to visit s often as I can---and see my dear friends--Dot Olson Florczyk, Judy Hanson Rasmussen, and Ellen Mathews Harris.  When we are together--it seems like we are still in 1965!! .  

One published short story entitled "The Golden Letter" in my college literary magazine competition.  It chronicles the progress of a particularly difficult student and the special relationship we developed and still have today!---need to write a sequel.