Ellen MikaBrown

I was born in Savannah, Georgia and spent my younger years as a government brat moving around a lot. At the time it seemed cruel and unusual punishment, but it contributed over time to making me a lifelong learner. I lived in many places, made a lot of friends and found that I actually enjoyed this nomadic life style. Living in the shadow of a moving van helped me learn what was important in life -friends/family and what was not important - stuff. Since we paid by the pound to move, I learned to donate to worthy causes, accessorizing with fewer items of clothing, reading library books that could be returned and traveling around the world in a backpack and one big carry-on. I love to journal, write haikus, snuggle and play with my cats, read anything and everything, do word puzzles and jigsaw puzzles. I am not fond of cooking and love recipes that contain 3 items and can be prepared in 15 minutes. I find myself often commenting on our educational system because I raised a child in 2 different public school systems. She had a learning disability that pushed her into the spotlight and found me yanking her out of it, so that she would not think she was stupid, but that she simply learned in a different way. I earned a teaching certificate in college and I used every iota of that learning and a lot of additional researching in helping her succeed. I learned to speak my mind clearly and firmly and be my child's advocate, because no one else was. She is a success today and I am proud to be sharing her continued journey. I call myself a jack of all trades and master of none, but I was fortunate to have been able to volunteer and work in several positions that opened me up to new skills and the opportunity to serve. I love to write to relieve stress and find my inner voice, that sometimes needs some coaxing to show itself and other times just bursts out on the page. I look forward to this opportunity to share my journey with you.