I was born in Fairhope, Alabama, but I lived in Japan most of my childhood.

 Dad, Jane (sister), John (brother), Mom, and me (with my Chatty-Cathy doll)

Dad and Mom in front of our house in Japan.

I attended Japanese school through second grade.  Can you find me in this picture?                            My Japanese name tag.

Mom home-schooled us in English until middle school.  Here I am on the first day of first grade. 

I LOVED being read to, but learning to read didn’t come easy to me.  To help me Mom wrote words on index cards and scattered them across the floor.  She put a caramel treat on every fifth card. Yum!  I still remember my excitement when finally in third grade I actually enjoyed reading a book (Smiling Hill Farm).  It felt magical.

My sister Jane, "Aunt" Katherine Womeldorf (m. Paterson), and me.

I graduated from Canadian Academy, an international boarding school in Kobe, Japan.  Four years later I graduated from Earlham College in Indiana where I met my husband, Peter Philips.  Following college I lived in Atlanta, Georgia and worked as a community organizer for two years.  Then, after moving to Salt Lake City, Utah I became a union activist with the Communications Workers of America. 

Peter and I have lived in Salt Lake City, Utah for over 25 years.  We started our family in 1986 when we adopted a baby boy, John. Two years later we adopted a baby girl, Jane.  They shared a happy childhood.  We camped, hiked, boated, but our favorite thing to do was to read stacks and stacks of library books together. Since the summer of 2000, my husband and I have served as seasonal backcountry volunteers in Grand Teton National Park.

On November 3, 2005, after a challenging year, John died of a drug overdose at the age of nineteen.  Our family has struggled to cope with his death, even as we try to honor and cherish his memory.  My book, ALWAYS MY BROTHER, taps that journey of grief. 

   The story behind Always My Brother

   John's obituary