I lead a pretty interesting life as a young woman. When I was in my senior year of high school, my parents went through a very hostile divorce. As a young person it was very hard to go through. My two sisters were out of the house; one was married with kids and the other was at college so I had to deal with this life changing event alone. During the divorce process, my mom moved to New Jersey while my dad stayed in Pennsylvania. My mom and I were very close so I chose to live with her and commuted to Pennsylvania to finish out my senior year of high school. I think about that in wonder because now that I have a daughter in high school, I realize how much she relies on her her friends; being with them, talking on the phone with them and think how much I missed while commuting from Pennsylvania to New Jersey everyday. I missed out on so many high school experiences.

When I finished high school I went to West Chester University to study nursing. Luckily, that is where my sister Kelli also attended college. We are only a year and two months apart and are best friends. We were happy to be together. Our parents divorce dragged on for another year and my father became hostile and stopped paying for Kelli's and my education. My mother had always been a housewife and never worked outside of the house so she didn't have the income to pay for school either. All of her income was tied up in the divorce; my sister and I were stunned. We knew we had to get an education to ensure ourselves the opportunity at a better life. In the meantime of all of this upheaval my mother died suddenly. I was devastated. This only added to the pressure to succeed. My sister and I lost contact with our father; we were basically adult orphans. We obtained student loans and grants and graduated from college with honors.

I met my husband, Craig, on the first day of college. I know it sounds silly but it is romantic. He was there for me when I was going through all these difficult times. We dated for eight years before getting married. After college we decided to settle in New Jersey because he worked in New York City. As a nurse in the 1990s, it was fairly easy to get a job anywhere. I did many different types of nursing including, medical nursing, home care nursing and cardiac nursing. I finally found my 'calling' with cardiac nursing. I always say with cardiac surgery there is such a " before and after effect." Patients are so debilitated before surgery and six months after surgery they are the picture of health. I love to help people so I think nursing is the perfect profession for me.

Not long after moving to New Jersey, I became pregnant with our first child. We didn't know what to name her. Jane, Lucy and Sally were all names that I liked, but my mother-in-law didn't agree. One day, as I was running, I passed a sign that read 'KC car dealership.' That was it.

'K' for Kathy and 'C' for Craig. The day our daughter was born, we named her Casey. Following her came Jack and Billy. While Casey is a mix between Craig and I, Jack looks more like a me and Billy looks more like Craig. Jack has my blonde hair and light green eyes, even the same Polish skin that gets so dark in the summer. Casey and Billy are both fair, with brown hair, blue-green eyes and freckles. Looking at old pictures of my husband, I feel as though I’m looking at Billy, they are so identical. Sometimes people don’t realize that Jack is related to Casey and Billy because their features are so different. But as I always tell them, if you look at their eyes you can tell right away. Their light eyes are the same blue-green as my mom’s were; looking at them, I am always reminded of her. When I look back at my life, sometimes I feel sad thinking of all that I endured so young. But, then I look to see where I am today and realize how that all made me so strong. I worked hard and achieved my dream.