Getting clear about what I did to meet my parents' expectations, versus what I do for me, has made me a deeper, more devoted writer. And better able to cope with the challenges of being a single parent, grandmother, and now widow. I live in Vermont, a place of both beauty and challenges, and I bring the word-attention of poetry into everything I write. I figure if I share what I'm sorting out and learning, someone else -- maybe you? -- can get a couple steps further into figuring out more joy.