Personal Page of Maria Brown

I am an avid reader. I enjoy spending time with my partner, our cats, our families and friends, and I enjoy needlepoint and other crafts. I enjoy watching movies, and listening to music, and am a fan of Melissa Etheridge, the Indigo Girls, and k. d. lang, U2, Garth Brooks, Reba MacIntyre, etc. I enjoy walking outside, particularly in Autumn and Spring. I try to stay fit by working out at the gym, and by eating healthy (sometimes I actually succeed!).

For me, there are really 4 kinds of family that I rely on nowadays. There's my family of origin. We have had a complicated and sometimes painful history together. I have several brothers and sisters, and one sister that I am very close to, and whom I rely on very much for friendship. Then there is my partner's family, who have been very welcoming to me and very supportive of our life together. I am very grateful to have them in my life. Then there is the extended family I have built from my friendships over the years. Women and men who support and nurture each other on this journey we call life. And then there is my partner, who is by far the most suitable companion I have ever found in this world, and for whom I will be eternally grateful. She is strength and grace and beauty, and is a calming, healing force in my life.

Me and my baby at our wedding, July 2005!

I am an Irish American in my mid-30s. I am a breast cancer survivor, who has recently received my Master's Degree in Social Work (May 2005). I am now working on my PhD in Social Science, focusing on gerontology. I live with my life partner and our 4, that's right, 4! cats. She and our families are what made it possible for me to face cancer with any degree of courage or grace, and to return to school. We lost her mother suddenly to ALS a year ago, and we are all still trying to cope with that loss.

Unfortunately, we lost Gabriel on 11/21/01 to heart disease and kidney disease. We have since adopted Stanley, a very spirited kitten, in May 2002. Stanley is now 4 years old, and has a younger "brother" Mickey, who is about 2 1/2 years old.

Maria's Personal Page

05/03/06 - Please be patient while I work on updating these pages!