I was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I was the oldest of 4.
My dad, Dewaine, was a Lutheran minister. That made me a PK. My mom, Lois, was a homemaker. My dad was active in the Civil Rights Movement and was chaplain to Indoor Sports, a group for handicapped people. I was raised on the music of Pete Seeger.
I grew up near Lake Minnetonka, which is a large lake maybe 10 miles west of Minneapolis. I am of half-Norwegian, half-German heritage, like most of the people who lived in my town. I attended Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. While in college, I was active in the anti-Vietnam war movement. One day, the idea for the empathy symbol popped, full-blown, into my head. I felt as if I had been given this, and was spiritually charged to spread it throughout the world. My husband, Mike, does the tech support for the empathy symbol website, for which I am most grateful. I am a teacher, a writer, a reader, a mother, a wife, a sister, an aunt, and a Destination ImagiNation Challenge Master.