I like to say I’ve been around in the nicest sense. Meaning that I’m a native of southern Indiana, but have also lived in Texas (Dallas), California (Visalia, Riverside and Moreno Valley), Pennsylvania (Philadelphia), and Massachusetts (Burlington). More specifically, I lived in Big D when J.R. Ewing sat on the wall outside our downtown office building at noon and ate lunch with us lowly working types. I met my husband, Jim, when he was a student at Dallas Theological Seminary, wore a Stetson, answered to J.D. and swaggered – just a little. By the time we married in 1987, it was a case where the girl from Indiana met the guy from Rhode Island in Texas, married in Kentucky, honeymooned in Hawaii and then settled in California. As Sam Lewis would say, “Hang on. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
Sarah, our oldest child, was born in California in a brand-spanking new hospital with barely-used equipment. When the nurse
s scolded, “It’s not time to push yet, Mrs. Durgin,” Sarah didn’t listen and made her grand entrance into the world. Good thing the doctor was alert and, in spite of a rousing Celtics v. Lakers discussion with Jim, managed to catch her. Our other two children, Chelsea and Matthew, were both born in a Philly suburb (in no less dramatic ways, but I’ll spare you the details). During that time, I started writing full-length fiction and enjoyed being a stay-at-home mother and youth pastor’s wife for six years. Then on to cold but quaint Burlington, Massachusetts, where my husband became a senior pastor of a lovely white church on a hill. I counted it a blessing to drive by Louisa May Alcott’s girlhood home on my way to my part-time legal position in historic, gorgeous Concord. I also became a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan when the entire city barely ate, slept or breathed during the World Series in 2004. And then went wild when they won, especially when they trampled the NY Yankees in dramatic fashion along the way to their long-awaited championship.
In November 2005, we made the move back home to my roots, home in my heart.
We call it Kentuckiana where the Ohio River separates Indiana from Louisville, Kentucky. It’s home, and the people are usually friendly and mannerly – except when behind the wheel of a car. I have recently *retired* from my full-time estate administration/wealth management paralegal in a large downtown Louisville law firm. I look at it more as a career transition, but I’m going to see where the Lord and my imagination can take me as I continue to bring you stories of God’s grace, mercy, and unfailing love! Jim and the children are all thriving here, and still laugh when school is called off for one spotting of a snowflake. But they love it as much as I do. Thank the Lord.
And this little sweetheart? This is Amelia Grace, our first grandbaby, and the new shining light and love in our lives. It’s my prayer that she’ll grow in the grace, mercy, and love of the Lord Jesus Christ and enjoy a personal relationship with the Savior throughout her life.
