Johnstown, PA - flood city. My parents, one brother and my sister are still there, so I get back about four times a year.

At 11 I babysat. At 14 I got my first paper route. At 16 I started a four-year tenure at McDonalds. All of my jobs at VITAC have been a cakewalk compared to those first careers.

I forget most of high school. But, I did have one good teacher who dragged me into forensics, which gave me a degree of confidence. Thanks, Mrs. Fisher!

I wake up refreshed. Explore another part of the DC area with my husband via bike or on foot, discover a great outdoor eatery and relax with a glass of wine (see photo - Adams Morgan's Amsterdam Falafel). Return home and spend the early evening preparing a gourmet meal from a complicated recipe together (we will have bought bizarre ingredients which will clutter our cupboards for years, unused). Eat outside on our patio (there will be no mosquitoes) with music and wine. We end up completely relaxed on the couch with a great book or movie. The phone will not ring all day.

I met Maya Angelou while working at an AARP convention for VITAC. I had to ask her if she was going to say any words the captioner may not have in her dictionary. She was kind and gracious.

I have been lucky. I've been here nearly 20 years and have done so many different jobs. I've had many opportunities to grow and have been lucky to be mentored every step along the way by talented individuals. The best part of my job is working with people who rely on our captioning. I think everyone in the company should have the chance to interact with caption viewers.

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