The Fine Art of Cleaning à la Swiss
When my sister, a neatnik, first visited us in Switzerland decades ago, she was delighted by the orderliness. “Wow the streets are so clean you eat off of them!” Almost. Switzerland is the only place I know where sanitation workers regularly sweep the streets, pick up litter and blow leaves away from fountains and monuments. […]
Easter Tradition in Normandy
Though Gérald and I will dine tête a tête this Sunday, our hearts are filled with memories of holidays past when our children were younger and we were surrounded by family. As with every celebration in France, Easter begins and ends à table. Normandy is appreciated the most at mealtime when land and sea are […]
Minnesota Strong: Courage Faces Inhumanity
It can be hard to believe the news, TV or social media anymore, but eyes do not lie. I witnessed Minneapolis during the ICE siege when a posse of 3000 federal immigration agents in Special Forces gears rode into town to make America “safe” by rounding up “illegals,” as if storming insurgents in Afghanistan. The […]
Happy Birthday to Me, E.T.
Oh dear, how do I tell my 91-year-old mother that she gave birth to an extraterrestrial being? What else could explain my extraordinary quirks, peculiar ailments, and uncanny ability to survive against all odds? I’ve recovered from accidents that no mortal should have survived. I suffer from maladies so bizarre that no one has ever […]
I am
X-Pat, a feisty globetrotter. Teacher, writer, coach, speaker, and trailblazer with the down-to-earth, open-armed persona of The Heartland and a European twist. I have lived in four different countries, speak three languages and raised two bi-cultural kids with one très bon Frenchman. My passion is inspiring courage, breaking barriers, and creating connections.
Down and out? Hopeless and helpless? No matter where you are in your journey, my stories can help pick up your spirits, make transitions, gain new perspectives or just escape the daily grind.
If you deny a woman’s history, you erase her identity. I reveal the athlete’s untold story, from the passage of Title IX through forty years of social change. What makes it different from other sport biographies is the voice of a woman who walks the talk, who dribbled the ball and tells the story. Learn more by clicking here