Voice
Born into a family of singers, I found joy in music at an early age. My two sisters and I sang in harmony, songs like “Sugartime” made popular by The McGuire Singers, “Tell Me Why” and, with our dad, “Heart of My Heart.” Each of us was active in Choral music and theater in high school and that continued into adult life. I’ve performed with The Stampede Troupe in Greeley, The Greeley Chorale and continue to sing in my church choir at Plymouth Congregational, UCC in Fort Collins, CO.
My career was in nursing and I stayed actively engaged in that passion for 42 years. The first half of my work was focused on maternal/child nursing, specifically Labor and Delivery; the second half, I devoted to oncology nursing and then the sacred work of a hospice nurse before I retired in October 2016.
A satisfying and meaningful retirement requires an examination of “what now?” That question was answered when, along with 4 other singers, I helped found a chapter of Threshold Choir in Northern CO. After nearly a year of work memorizing music and finding our “lullaby" sound and blend, Fort Collins Threshold Singers, FCTS, was officially launched on October 24, 2018. Threshold Choir was started 20 years ago in the San Francisco Bay Area. There are over 200 chapters “Singing gently at the thresholds of life” in communities around the world, 14 of them in Colorado. Currently, FCTS are privileged to sing in trios, our spiritual, peaceful and soothing songs at bedsides in Columbine facilities.
Singing with and for my patients and their loved ones, I have witnessed the power of music to provide peace, comfort and solace for people receiving treatment for difficult and devastating disease and sometimes, with their very last breath.
