Let me start off by saying that writing is not one of my gifts but here goes.

After graduating from Roy-Hart, I tried college and at that time it wasn’t for me. Instead, I went to Toronto, ON, to train and became a beautician. For the next 5 years I stayed in Middleport, and ran a successful business. In 1971, Tom White and I got married and moved to Denver, Colorado, where Tom finished his bachelor’s and I worked.

After a short stop in Newfane, NY, where Tom was a deputy sheriff we moved to Albany, NY, for Tom’s Master’s Degree in Criminal Justice. I worked, did all his research (I have an honorary degree from Albany State) and had baby number one, Patrick (now 33). We then moved to Pennsylvania for Tom’s job and I had fun being a new mother. One year later we moved to Connecticut for another job. Tom became the Director of the Connecticut Justice Academy and I had baby number two -- Tommy (age 31). (Do you see a pattern here? My Mom calls me her gypsy!) While living in three different towns in Connecticut and raising my two children I was asked to run a story time for our local library and it was here that I discovered my love for working with young children. I spent two years as a volunteer doing story time with stories, crafts, songs, and movement for children from three to six years of age. I have worked with or in libraries for twenty five years starting in Ivoryton, CT.

In 1981 we moved to Oklahoma, where Tom was a warden of two different prisons and Deputy Commissioner of Corrections. I spent almost seven years living in Oklahoma, volunteering as PTA president at my son’s school and volunteering at the various town libraries, going into the head start programs. I presented a story time every week and helped both teachers and parents learn the right way to interact with children. This was a very rewarding experience. I also enrolled in college. I became very active in the University of Oklahoma’s Church, where I served as a Lector, Eucharistic Minister, and on the leadership committee.

In 1987 Tom was offered a job back in Connecticut as Deputy Commissioner of Corrections so we packed up and moved again. In Connecticut, I have been active in my church as a Lector, Eucharistic Minister, and served on the leadership committee. I am also very active in the Ladies Guild, chairing our holiday fair, serving as an officer in the Guild, and helping in any way I can. While in Connecticut this time I became one of only 13 certified Registrars of Voters, a Notary Public, and worked at Levi Coe Library as Head of Circulation and Program Coordinator and at Durham Public Library in the Children’s Department and Program Coordinator. Of course, I still did story time at both libraries. I have only moved three times in Connecticut and hopefully I’m planted for a while.

When I turned 56, I retired from library work but not working with children. After twenty five years of story time, I decided to start a cottage industry --“Mrs. White’s Storytime”-- which keeps me as busy as I want to be. One job is story time at Yale-New Haven Hospital, where I read to sick children. They come in with portable oxygen, chemo bags and many other devices. Many times they come in sick and sad but by the time we get to the crafts and flannel boards each child is smiling and has, for a few minutes, forgotten that their bodies are sick. I also substitute teach in our local schools, work with the Adult Education Program in the Durham/Middlefield area, and work for the YMCA’s after school program as storyteller and as facilitator for The Kids Book Club. I still volunteer at Levi Coe Library doing a story time each week. Young children are such a gift and I will always want to help them discover their individuality, self worth, and how to use their imagination. I don’t have any grandchildren (why won’t my boys don’t get busy?) so I fulfill the grandma’s fix by being a mother’s helper too.

My hobbies include reading, hiking, walking, boating, knitting, baking, and painting. One of my pleasures is to bake cookies and candies at Christmas and give them to friends, family, co-workers, and the needy. Life is great and all my little jobs end on May 15th and I head north to the St. Lawrence River where I spend the summer and come back September 15th. Tom is planning to retire in 2008 and then we plan to travel. Life is great!!!