My earliest memories and into my teens are of a time growing up in rural northern New Jersey where our family home was surrounded by woods, fields, streams, ponds, and lakes. From our front porch we could see the Kittatinny mountains in the distance. It was spectacularly beautiful. My mother always encouraged my sister, brother, and me, to “Go outside and play”; and play we did!

We climbed trees, rode bikes, ran, walked on stilts crafted by my Grandfather, practiced archery with my Grandmother, went sledding down the hills of the yard, skated on the frozen ice during the winter, and swam for hours on end during the summer, in the pond right in front of our house. It was the most amazing playground in which to grow up.