I was born just outside of St Louis MO in the USA to a guy who used to wear a Zoot suit and a gal who looked like Loretta Young (my Dad and Mom). They packed me up and moved us down to southern IL when I was two years old, which is where I did my 'growing up'.

I have a sister here in FL and a brother in Chicago IL; both are younger siblings. I lost my Mom and Dad within two weeks of each other about ten years ago; she to cancer and he, I believe, to a broken heart.

I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life when I started college, so I quit and went travelling. I prefer to go places and live there awhile; get the feel of the place and go see the sights. I've lived in Colorado, the state of Washington, Tennessee, Wyoming, and Florida (this is my second time living in FL and I think I'm staying this time!).

When I turned 26 I needed a job and got one as a nursing assistant; I thought I would hate it, but instead it started me on the road to my nursing career. I don't know what else I could have chosen for a career that would have been so satisfying to me; it was mentally challenging as well as a personal development builder. I earned my ADN and I specialized in treating people with cancer; I loved almost every minute of it.

My major passion when I was in my late 30's/early 40's was sailing. I had a small sailboat that I singlehanded and also raced with a crew on a 27 footer ('Back Off' was her name and rightly so!) every week in Tampa Bay. I could not get enough of cruising and being on the water.

In 1994 I received some bad health news, and by 1998 had to retire from nursing. I also had to retire from sailing. So, with my two passions gone, I started messing with a couple of support groups online. Then I got involved with a few ill-advised experiments in internet marketing and MLM. I've been in and out of internet marketing for a few years now and although I don't think I'm ever going to make it a career I have fun with it and make a little pocket money. You can go to my profile and see what I have my fingers into these days (click my name above my pic).

I'm more of a listener than a talker; you'll see that my posts aren't very wordy. And although you may not see me reply to every post you make, rest assured that I am interested and reading (and will probably open my mouth at some point when I have something to say!). I sometimes take myself too seriously and other times I have a very eclectic sense of humor.

THANKS,

LORRAINE