Mary Mascenik:  

How paradoxical it is that these past fifty years seem so brief in retrospect, and yet were so full in the years of living them! As I sit surrounded by photos of my four children, nine grandchildren, family dogs and cats, stuff old and new, and souvenirs from hither and yon, I remind myself that it HAD to take fifty years to get to this point! I've been blessed with good health and the loving companionship of my husband Tom the whole way. I graduated from Douglass College in 1970. In the years since, I've worked as a technical editor, public relations writer, realtor, and general contractor on my home's construction. While my kids were growing up in Chatham, NJ, I was a "stay-at-home-Mom," making lots of giant casseroles, pruning shrubs, and ripping down wallpaper. These last twenty years, we've lived in bluegrass and moonshine country in the foothills of the Blue Ridge in northwest North Carolina. I am a master gardener and have designed and planted my own landscape, as well as several Habitat homes. I volunteer as a docent at Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem. I dehydrate gourmet meals for the 6 to 9 week-long camping expeditions we take in our little two-person tent. I still love to ice ska...Expand for more