I left Camp Hill for college in Washington, D.C., fully expecting that I would never return to live in Central Pennsylvania. I majored in English and went on to graduate school in Buffalo, N.Y. before deciding that, much as I loved literature, the world of academia was not for me. After deciding to pursue a (really) different kind of writing, I attended another graduate school—this time in journalism in New York City. I then landed my first reporting job—at a daily newspaper in New Jersey—and discovered I loved the hectic, crazy world of journalism.

Eventually I made my way to Honolulu, where I worked as a writer and editor with a magazine and then the larger of the city’s two daily newspapers, The Honolulu Advertiser. I lived in Honolulu for 14 years, with one year away at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on a fellowship program for U.S. and international journalists.

In 2003 I returned to Pennsylvania from Honolulu to help care for my mother, who had Parkinson’s disease and was in a nursing home in Carlisle. Mistakenly thinking government work would be less stressful than journalism, in 2004 I took a communications job in the administration of Governor Ed Rendell. I stayed in that job—as the press secretary for the state budget office—until 2012. Now I do some freelance writing and editing, including writing a monthly blog column for Psychology Today magazine’s website. I also play piano in the lobby of Harrisburg Hospital as a volunteer and occasionally sit in as a vocalist at jazz jams and friends’ jazz gigs.

I live in Harrisburg, but I am often in Camp Hill because my brother lives there and his two sons went to Camp Hill High School. I have told my nephews that I came back to help take care of their grandmother, but an additional blessing for me was being close at hand to see them grow up. Although I would never have believed it when I set off for college, I feel extremely fortunate that the twists and turns of life brought me back to Pennsylvania. I am looking forward to catching up with you at the reunion!