50 over 50 2022 Edition

Alway trying to improve myself at age forty I taught myself Sudoko puzzle as a way to overcome my number phobe (via sudoko for dummies). At age fifty I started swimming again. I swam as a kid but hadn’t really swam since Highschool. It is now one of my passions!

I’ve always been driven to succeed. After fifty I recognized the need to stop and smell the roses! Try to have more fun and enjoy life!

I would advise her to be braver and try new things. Ask lots of questions, be curious and don’t be afraid to fail! 

I am an active person and I get much of my energy from being with people. 

I am up for adventures and exposing myself to new people, places and things.

I’ve had the fortune to travel for business. I’m often asked where is my favorite place to visit. As I reflect on that question it’s not about the place but it is about the people I’ve met that make each place special. 

I am American born to a French mother and American father whose parents were French. So I am proudly French American! 

My mother Madeleine was the quintessential French woman. She was beautiful and so stylish! I alway said, we could have on the same outfit yet somehow she made it look special and better – she always added that little something extra.

My mother grew up in Normandy and was a young girl during WWII. Her father, Gus, was part of the French resistance that helped to hide and save Jews from the war. Some of the stories she told us were amazing. 

Madeleine met and married my father Peter in Paris during the Korean was. He was a French speaking attaché during the war.

They moved to New Jersey where they raised their four children.

Getting to know myself and what I want out of life has been a journey. Instead of being a people pleaser trying to know myself and listen to my wants and needs.

As a child, my mother pushed me to study and work hard to succeed in life. I’ve had an extremely successful career in the healthcare industry. But, I’ve had to learn to add more non working fun into my life. 

I remind myself that life is a journey and it’s important to be open and accepting to what comes my way!

I’m most proud of my family and the relationship that I have with my two children, Renee and Adam. They are both very kind, smart, caring adults who I enjoy spending time with.

I’m proud of the home that my husband Ken and I built together in Sherman and the community of friends that we’ve developed over the years. 

We belong to a lake club in Sherman called Lake Mauweehoo Club. It is a very special place for me where I’ve made some incredible friends and spent many a happy summer day! 

Most summer weekend afternoons that is where you will find my husband and myself sitting in a circle of friends after my lake swim. 

LMC is my happy place! It’s so peaceful and welcoming.

my mother passed away in August 2021 at

The age of 89.5. In July is 2022 my brother, daughter and myself  took her ashes back to her birthplace in Normandy. We were able to have a mass for her in the church where she was baptized and buried her in the tomb with her parents and sister who died at a young age. 

We did this for my mother but received a bigger gift of family! We have so many relatives in france with whom  we were reacquainted. It was a very special time for us and I look forward to visiting again.