(originally printed in the Graham Community Profile)

I was raised in Young County and have a history in this community. My ancestors settled here in the mid 1800s and homesteaded a cattle ranch that is still operated today by my father.  My great-great-great grandfather was one of the original founders of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, which was formed in Young County. My roots run deep in this place.

After graduating from Graham High School in 1990, I left home that fall for college. I could hardly wait to leave and start the next chapter of life. For 17 years I followed my marketing and public relations career.  And it took me places … I frequently traveled abroad for business. I lived and worked in Chicago, Ann Arbor, Mich., and Dallas. But just as Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, “there is no place like home.”     

After Michael and I married we wanted to live a more authentic life.  We wanted to know our neighbors, their children and the names of their dogs.  Graham is that kind of place and that’s why we decided to move and raise our family here. 

I can’t fully express the feeling of waking up that first morning after moving knowing, that I am no longer a rat in the middle of the rat race.

I am thrilled to come home and to have the opportunity to put my skills and experience to use for the betterment of the Graham Chamber of Commerce. But most of all I’m glad to be living in this community raising our child knowing his grandparents, neighbors and their dogs.