Happy 90th Birthday to my Pioneer Dad
If I pursued a career unheard of for women, moved abroad and rewrote my script after my dream collapsed in an accident, it is because of you, my pioneer dad, who believed in me every step of the way.
Can Tidiness Be Part of National Heritage
You would think after living in the world’s MTC (Most Tidy Country) I would have adopted some of their clutter free lifestyle. Alas after residing in the same house in Switzerland for over 2 decades I have amassed a truck load of artifacts, books, T-shirts, photographs, medals, basketballs and other memorabilia.
As a history collector, a memory keeper, how do I part with boxes of stuff.
Am I missing the clean gene?
Or can tidiness be part of a national identity inherent in small countries where space is at a premium?
Sophie Giraffe Favorite French Toy Turns 60
The little red Radio Flyer wagon, Lincoln logs, Matchbox cars each generation had their favorite toys, but the all time favorite French toy is Sophie la giraffe May 25th, 2021 on St.Sophie Day, Sophie La Girafe turns 60. Vulli, a company based in Rumilly in the Haute-Savoie region of France, not far from where we […]
Tools to Help Ease Bad Back Pain
For the past 55 years I have lived with back pain and I could write a book on how to cope since I have tried every self help tool available. As a teenager, my right leg went numb from a herniated disk. In 1978 the standard treatment for ruptured disks was traction and surgery, but […]
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.