I’m really glad I was able to find this website! I’m always eager to learn new things. It’s amazing to find a place with so many people with such a wealth of knowledge about turquoise jewelry. I’m a very positive, upbeat person and always have been. I have no idea why I absolutely love dragonflies and am fascinated by them (I know that’s kind of random ). The ocean is my happy place and recharges my soul although I haven’t been able to go there for a few years My mother taught me a lot about jewelry over my life. After she retired from 35 years nursing (RN degree from UVA in the 50s) she completed her MA degree in jewelry and metal smithing at VCU. We went to many powwows together through the 90s-2010s where both of us admired and purchased many items including a bit of turquoise and silver jewelry. I don’t know why I feel such a strong spiritual connection with Native American culture but I do. For the past 30+ years I’ve been living in Chester Va. I currently live with my sister and niece. My brother and I share a passion for photography; I have taken literally hundreds of photos with real cameras long before phones became cameras. That being said it’s probably not surprising that I’m 65 (as of June). I’m single, never had children but have many awesome friends mostly in the sober community. I’ve had several vocations over my life starting when I was 14, I was a waitress for about 14 years, was an insurance agent for a few years, went back to school for my BS in psychology. I was a real estate agent for a couple of years while I was in graduate school. My chosen profession that I loved was a being a counselor for 15+ years. My last position was as a in-home clinician working with dual diagnosed severely mentally ill adults on Medicaid. When my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s I and my stepfather were her caregivers for a few years before she went into memory care in 2018. She passed at age 85 in April 2020 at the beginning of COVID lockdown. I’m disabled with severe arthritis and have been mostly wheelchair bound for a few years. I’m hoping I can get knee replacement surgeries soon (maybe 2026?). I’m doing everything I can to be able to walk normally again. In the meantime I live a mostly happy and uneventful life which is just fine with me!