Mandi Smith

The only thing I have ever wanted to be in life, aside from a wife and mother, is a writer. The need to express myself with words has been a huge part of my life since I wrote my first poem back in first grade. I love the thought that my words can move people and that I can assume a million different identities through the written word. I have been happily married for 13 years to Rickey, who is a paraplegic; our life is full of many challenges, but it is never boring. I have no children of my own, although I have helped raise several of my nieces at different times. I worked in a variety of fields, ranging from reporter to UPS unloader to secretary for the Kilby Awards Foundation before following in the footsteps of the women in my family and coming to work for the phone company, where I have been employed for nine years now. I am an avid basketball fan, particularly of the Dallas Mavericks; I collect memorabilia and have met several players on different occasions. I am fascinated with forensic psychology and the art of profiling and am always wanting to understand why people do the things they do. I can be a bit quirky at times and I have a sometimes sarcastic and twisted sense of humor. I am generally a laidback person who takes life as it comes.