Verla Marlee Miller was born on September 10th, 1950 at the Orthopedic Hospital in Greeley, Colorado. My parents were living in Berthoud, Colorado at the time but there was no hospital or doctor in this very small town on the eastern plains of Colorado. I was named after my mothers sister, Verla Marjorie, who at this time was a missionary in China and was incarcerated under house arrest by the Communist regime. They didn't know if she would come back alive. So many foreigners were being put to death by the Communists. My mother didn't like the name Marjorie so she took the Mar and added Lee which in Chinese stood for the middle syllable of her maiden name El-LEE-ott. My aunts Chinese name was Lee Wei-Lo. I was a year old when my Aunt Verla came home from China, luckily in one piece. Like my Aunt Verla I was number four of six children and being a middle child went through my childhood trying to make up for it. And being one of four girls, my mom had plenty of help.

I have been married twice and divorced twice. The only good that came out of my first marriage were my three children. Stephen Eugene Galla Jr., born in 1973, and my twin daughters Joanne Marlee Galla and Jolene Marie Lathrop born in 1976(my bicentennial babies). Both of the girls have given me each two grandchildren. Joanne, who was 2 minutes older, has a boy and a girl and Jolene has two girls. Neither of them live close enough for me to spoil the grandkids but I adore them anyway.

My interests vary. I have an eclectic taste in books, reading mysteries, science fiction, westerns, and trashy love stories(to let my brainwaves rest). My favorite Authors are Agatha Cristie, Dorothy Sayers, P.D. James,(mysteries), Andre Norton, Anne Macaffrey, Terry Brooks,(science fiction), Zane Grey, Louis L'Amour (westerns). Harlequin Intrigue are my favorite off the stand reading. One problem I have is that I cannot put a book down once I start reading. I also subscribe to DorothyL which is a must for mystery buffs. I get to meet some actual authors. Margaret Chittendens web page has tips on how to write a mystery book.

Crafts such as sewing I've done since I was 9. My mother was my 4-H leader so we were expected to know it very well. All of us girls learned that way. I love to cook and will get a chance now that I am here in Indianapolis. Teaching myself to crochet, I specialize in afgans. I have an urge to paint and I have everything to do it with except time. I watch the Bob Ross series on PBS and I just know I could do it.

Another interest that I have came up last year when I saw Pride and Prejudice. A Fan was made. I couldn't get enough of it. There have been some web pages that a person can go to to get a fix on the show or the actor Colin Firth(what a hunk). I bought the video and the book. I've seen as many of the Firth movies as I can.

I have some small collections going. I love Teddy Bears and have a fair amount of them. I can't afford expensive ones so unusual ones that catch my eye and are inexpensive I get. They range in size from 1 inch to 4 feet tall. Another collection is Castles made by John Hopkins. I have two complete series of his and some extra. Also I have the set of the Kingfisher series by Lisa Fellers. I enjoy just looking at these. I also enjoy Fantasy plates with Unicorns and fairies.

Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet

Ancestry

Nancy's Notions

2 Busy Stitching

Sue Grafton

Aimee and David Thurlo

Colin Firth

My Son's Page

Silver Spruce Motel

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