About The Authors

Bobbi Mezger

We moved around a lot when I was little; my father was a Chief in the Navy. I remember going to second grade in both Florida and Northern California. I learned to make friends quickly and fit in. By the time I started third grade, we had settled into the home I'd live in until I graduated from high school.

My mother was a stay-at-home mom, volunteering at the library, serving as a Girl Scout leader, active in the PTA. My sister and I always had pets at home-dogs, cats, fish. We lived in a modest three-bedroom house my parents chose because it was walking distance from school. Our family vacations were usually to national parks with a trailer my dad pulled behind our Buick.

I was a good kid who loved to play outdoors. But when I lost track of time and came home after five p.m. (a big "no-no" in my household), I'd hear my middle name being called and I knew I was in trouble. Bobbi Joyce! Uh-oh. I'd be put on "restriction," with my privileges taken away for a period of time.

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Martha Burgoon-Karelius

I was raised in a 1600-square-foot home in Norwalk, California, shoehorned in with five siblings, assorted cats and birds, and lots of stuff. It was a boisterous, haphazard Irish Catholic clan with a simple and uncomplicated life. We survived on a single income, a civil servant's salary. If we wanted to do anything extracurricular, we were allowed and encouraged, but we had to make it happen on our own. Parenting was very different in those days. Call it "hands-free" style. There was not much chance that an über-involved adult would help with homework, much less a project or a merit badge.

I was an excellent student. I attended Catholic school for eight years, then spent my high school days recovering from it. I attended college, but stopped short at an AA degree and never went back. I'm not proud of that. My family values education highly, and I should have seen it through. From time to time I think about going back and finishing, but common sense prevails and I escape without adding unnecessary stress to my life. That's one line in the sand I've decided not to cross at this late date.

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