Since my first book was entitled House of Testosterone -- One Mom's Survival in a Household of Males, I thought I would first introduce you to the males in my family who provide 95% of the anecdotes for my writing material (even thought they do so inadvertently). My crew consists of Kevin, my husband of 30 years (which I'm not sure equates to how many arguments about who controls the thermostat, but as menopause and hot flashes overtake me now, I think I have every right to control it the way God intended); my oldest son, William, I mean Billy, I mean Bill, who is 26 and is a CPA in Washington, DC (his given name is William but family and friends called him Billy all the way through his college years, but that changed to Bill sometime in grad school); David, 24, who is following in his brother's footsteps becoming a CPA after a Master's program, and will work in Raleigh in the fall; and my youngest, Jason, 17, who has one more year of high school, and I plan to savor every minute we will have him here in the house with us. Having him at the age of 38, nine years after Billy and six years after David, is what inspired me to write my humor book that will be released in July -- Please Don't Let Me Be the Oldest Mom in the PTA! The anecdotes in my books are totally true with no embellishment, much to the dismay of many, especially a few relatives, who after reading some of the shenanigans that take place in our home, would rather not admit that they are actually related to us. Understandable.
Sons David, Jason, & Billy (from left to right), taken in 2015 (It is no small task to get them together and agree to take pictures, so these rare shots are few and far between. Due for another one).
I would be remiss if I didn't include the youngest member of our family in this introduction: his name is Fenway, our 13-year-old long-haired dachshund, who was born October 27, 2004, the amazing night the Boston Red Sox finally won a World Series after a so-called curse of 86 years of no world championships, just heartbreaking near-misses and 'almosts'. We all adore him and his sweet but sometimes odd personality, and he adores us; yet, it is my husband who has the strongest bond with Fenway, bordering on the ridiculous at times. Fen guards Kevin's belongings when he is not home and is attached at his hip when he is home. There's lots about Fenway in my books too, because he is too big a part of our household for him not to be included.
FENWAY!!
I also have two other websites that have various information about our family and my writing. The first is momsofboys.org, and the second is uplit.org, which is dedicated to promoting the inclusion of more uplifting reading options in high school English classes. My sharonodonnellauthor.com site will include some of the same information, but all three sites serve a different purpose. But all of them come down to one word: family.
Husband and sons in Fenway Park. Yes, we are Red Sox fans since my husband's family is originally from New England.
This is from a trip my boys and I took to NYC to see a play! Okay, we also went to see NC State play a basketball game in Madison Square Garden. But the deal was if we go to the game, we also go to a play. Saw Jersey Boys, and they loved it! Another one of my attempts to say, yes, I love sports too, but there is more to life than sports. My husband's uncle and aunt gave us tickets to the musical, and it was fantastic.
A rare photo of all of us together on vacation. Rare because usually one of us is missing because somebody has to stay home with Fenway (see photos above).
Thank God for church pictures, or we would probably never make the time to get any taken.