Johanna (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781500998257)

I was born in a big red barn of a house on June 15, 1935. A brother had proceeded me but the unfortunate infant contacted pneumonia and lived only three months. Needless to say I was anxiously awaited and assumed to be a boy. Nevertheless I was cuddled and spoiled. Soon my sister joined our family. Money was scarce throughout the great depression, but my family was rich in love; more so eight years later when our brother appeared. My first great discovery was the public library. At home we had only one children's book; a big thick blue one with bible stories and pictures of a tower falling down, Daniel in the lion's den and Abraham - well; I loved the book anyway. I married shortly after my twentieth birthday. Charles and I have two special daughters and a delightful granddaughter. We look forward to our sixtieth anniversary in 2015. I spent over 25 years working with people diagnosed with a mental illness. My experiences included evaluations, therapy, staff training and development, program design and implementation, administration, family involvement and consumer advocacy. My therapeutic techniques varied with the need of the person treated. I served on the Executive board of a consumer-run not-for-profit which I was instrumental in developing. This organization on its tenth anniversary honored me with a Life-Time Achievement Award. Writing has been my strength and my fun. My reports on my client evaluations included both detailed descriptions of the processes involved and a through analysis of the data. My program descriptions and careful write-ups regarding needs brought us funds from state and national grants This ability also contributed to my selection to the limited work-study doctoral program provided by New York University in the 1970's. As a finalist from over 100 candidates I was invited to the oral exam and given one of the twelve chairs available. Also, my required written thesis was accepted on first presentation. This enabled me to begin my dissertation according to the timeline originally projected by the professors and become one of the two who received the Doctorate of Public Administration with a specialty in Mental Health Policy in under four years. In addition to my contributions to the not-for-profit board, in the years that followed I led the way to the creation of a local quilting guild. Through quilt auctions this group raised thousands of dollars for breast cancer research and assisted many other people and groups in need.