I understand these are busy times for your family?

Yes! Tim and I have a son, Tanner, who is getting married in September, and our daughter, Ally, just graduated from high school. Tanner’s fiancée, Molly, stayed with us during Covid, because her parents are in Pennsylvania and going back and forth was difficult, so we’re all very close. Molly, Ally and I will meet her mother in New York in June to pick up her dress. Planning the wedding has us all a little crazy, in a very good way! Tanner’s a lineman for a company in Virginia right now, so he’s gone during the week, and Molly has a successful mobile dog grooming business.

So you had a full house during Covid?

It was me, my three students, my big German Shorthaired Pointer, and one needy Mini Yorkie all at home together during the day. Tim’s a Data Manager at Focus so he would go into work. I’d close my office door to concentrate, but my poor Yorkie was persistent in scratching and whining. Tanner and Molly have since moved out, but Ally is going to Cape Fear for Sonography, and decided to stay at home to save money, so it won’t be a completely empty nest for a while. And we have a new golden doodle puppy that is, well, all puppy!

When you’re not at work or looking after this crew, what do you like to do?

Church is very important to all of us, and we go together every Sunday. I’m involved in Youth Group on Sunday and Wednesday nights, and I teach the three-year-old Sunday school class—they are so much fun! I’m also involved with God’s Pit Crew, an organization that helps communities after disasters. Our church housed them when they came to our area after Hurricane Florence, that’s how we got to know them.