Joanne Marie Firth

Currently and for the past 32 years, I've been a wife and mother. In between, I etched out a fast paced, fun and rewarding working career which I retired from in 2006. My three children are my golden treasures and through all of the years they have remained my main priority in life. I wrote my first poem at age 7 about the American flag and things were never quite the same for me since. I fell madly in love with words. Everything about words, writing them, articulating them, thinking about them and their varied meanings and even the individual letters of which they are made up of. Turning words inside out, upside down, backwards and forwards, just to be able to play with them. That's how much I love words. Punctuating them correctly is a whole different story. I've lived a good, hard working life and have had many highs, many achievements, many moments of pure joy. I have also lived through many losses, hardships, and disapointments, feeling deeply the despair and brokeness that goes along with the "bad" times. The little poems and stories that I write are strictly from my head and heart. There has been no higher educational backround to teach me the correct way to do it, I struggle with this each time I share something that I have written. I live a simple, quiet life in a small town. My favorite motto was one of my mother's favorites also. It's simple and it's Biblical, "Love One Another". I believe if it were heeded, the world would be a more peacful, loving place in which all of us could live our own lives the way we want and need to. I hope some day that all of the words I have put together will be passed on somehow through my children. I've learned a lot about life and have not been shy about passing on the knowledge I have gained. There is little I have not experienced or have been exposed to, it has all been noted and filed away in my memory for a day that it may help someone else. I have secrets, skeletons in the closet and moments I am not proud of. I am honest, goodhearted and generous. If I come across a person in distress, I do my best to try to help. I am also shy, sensitive, and emotional. At times, writing is the only way I can express myself fully. This little blog has been helpful to me in more ways than I can count. I appreciate every visit and remain humbled that people stop by to read my words. ******** Update: On September 30th, 2010, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It is now February 2011 and I am currently undergoing chemotherapy. This diagnosis and subsequent treament has been very difficult for myself, my children, my family and my friends. The love we have for eachother has gotten us this far and will continue to see us through. I have tried to write, in various ways, a lttle bit about what it is like to go through this and will continue to do so moving forward through this long process. JMLF 2/15/11