Optimistic, Energetic & Cheerfully Confident
Facts About Me
- Born: On April 12,1964 and weighed a little over 5lbs. I was born with a hole in my heart (Ventricular Septal Defect) that was corrected at the age of three. Throughout my childhood I knew that if I hadn't had the surgery I would have died by age 10. This is the defining feature of my life. Boy was I lucky!
- Profession: A friend recently said that I should respond to a question like this with "Do you have half an hour?" I am a Public Historian with an emphasis on Environmental and Cultural History, which means that I coordinate oral history projects, write books, work on documentary films and I've even created websites! I am also starting a Ph.D Program in Urban Studies at Portland State University and I am pretty excited about it.
- Favorite Color: Red, for now.
- Favorite Foods: Anything but organs or fish.
- Favorite Season: Love them all.
- Fondest Memories: Eating sliced strawberries topped with sugar at my grandmas's house in her green goblets; watching my mom put on her make-up at the kitchen table; coffee and cigarette in hand while something yummy stewed on the stove; the day I was married; all the days I had my babies; the day Barbara Jo picked up on me in the library because she heard I was going to graduate school; eating pizza with BJ, my kids and her girls at Uncle Milts; the day I met my friend Katy; firsts with my past loves; the day I finally graduated from Community College, from WSU, and especially from Portland State University with my History degree; visiting Iowa!
- Favorite Books: I use to love James Michener and now I read history books for work and for school, but really love to get into a novel.
- Hobbies I used to say reading and talking; and now I read and talk (through interviewing) for a living. Not a bad life. Still love to visit best of all. I love to hike, although I don't do it often enough. I love music and theater, going for walks with friends and drinking coffee.
- Likes: Sunny days, smiling faces, budding flowers, the smell of coffee, the Park Blocks in downtown Portland, good friends, nice people, etc...the list goes on.
- Dislikes: Dishonesty in relationships, being bossed, mean people, the current political system, poverty, racism, sexism and homophobics.
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I am the mom of three children. Here is my Family.
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Jake
August 2004
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Jacob, age 19, will be 20 on Dec. 7 2004! He lives with me in our family home since 1989. He is attending Clark Community College full time and is now thinking about becoming a massage therapist. Jake helps me mow the lawn, takes out the garbage, and often provides stimulating conversation, usually at 11 or 12 at night.
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Danielle
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Danielle is 16. Her birthday is September 6, 1988. She moved in with their dad and moved to Salem, Oregon in June 2003. I have missed her and her brother, Chris, severely, even though we still spend time together, either through my trips to Salem or their weekend visits (which are too rare now that they are teens). Danielle has a boyfriend named Doffy (that is Adolfo Gutierrez Ramirez, Jr) who occupies most of her time. They are all three smart, wonderful people!
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Christopher
with Mom and Danielle - Aug. 20, 2004
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Christopher is 14 years old. His birthday is Feb. 27, 1990. He also moved in with his dad and moved to Salem, Oregon in June 2003. Chris is my good buddy who likes to play Skippo with me and is always up for adventure. He likes to draw, play video games and hang out on the computer. |
Billy
Prince
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I am also the mom of one dog and two cats; Prince, a silkie terrier, age between 8 and 11 (he was a pound dog so we don't know how old he is), Mama Kitty, and Pocohontas. Prince has almost died twice in the three years we have had him, so he definitely considers me Mom. Mama Kitty, of course, considers herself the boss (and it is often true). Pocohontas lives outdoors on her own, coming round only for food and petting. She, like the rest of us, misses her best friend, our family dog Billy, who passed away in December 2002. We all continue to mourn for him.
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Early 1970's
Daddy Hugh, Donna, Teresa, Brian
1996
Jake, Donna, Heather, Amanda, Taylor and Danielle
Brian and Barbara Jo
June 21, 2003
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I am also the sister to Brian, and the sister-in-law to Barbara Jo and the aunt to all of their many children. Brian's dad, my Daddy Hugh, used to be married to my mom, Jade, when I was a little girl. Brian and I were very close as children and as teens. He lived with us at various times even when our parents were divorced. That's because we are all family. Our children were born close to the same times, but then while they were small Brian moved to the midwest and I didn't see him for a long time. Barbara Jo and I met at Washington State University Vancouver and became best friends - two single moms with no money, laptops, and lots of kids. At one point, she and the girls (Heather, Amanda and Jesie) lived with me and mine for eight months. At the time (1996) our household consisted of two moms, six children, two dogs (Billy and Taylor), and three cats (Mama Kitty, Pocohontas, Squealer). When they moved, they moved down the street, within walking distance. I can truly say there's nothing like raising kids together to create sisterhood. I had no idea that someday there would be a marriage certificate between Barbara Jo and my brother Brian to make it legal!
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Donna's Wish List
- Redistribution of wealth so that everyone's phyical and mental needs are met
- An end to homelessness
- An end to hunger
- An end to war
- Visionary leaders who can make the above happen
- Family peace
- Love, and lots of it!
- A really cool home speaker/cordless phone so I can talk while I clean house without hurting my neck
- Two volumes of The Handbook of North American Indians (a reference book): Plateau and Northwest Coast
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My Special Interests
The Center For Columbia River History is the organization that gave me my start as a historian. Here are two websites that I researched, wrote, and constructed on Columbia Slough Community History site in Portland, OR and The Umatilla Community History site in Oregon
Here is a piece written by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, the author of Women Who Run with the Wolves. It encompasses my life philosophies. It is called "Inspiration."
Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will help immensely. It is not given to us to know which acts or by whom, will cause the critical mass to tip toward an enduring good. What is needed for dramatic change is an accumulation of acts, adding, adding to, adding more, continuing.
We know that it does not take "everyone on Earth" to bring justice and peace, but only a small, determined group who will not give up during the first, second, or hundredth gale. One of the most calming and powerful actions you can do to intervene in a stormy world is to stand up and show your soul. Soul on deck shines like gold in dark times. The light of the soul throws sparks, can send up flares, builds signal fires, causes proper matters to catch fire. To display the lantern of soul in shadowy times like these - to be fierce and to show mercy toward others, both, are acts of immense bravery and greatest necessity.
Struggling souls catch light from other souls who are fully lit and willing to show it. If you would help to calm the tumult, this is one of the strongest things you can do.
There will always be times when you feel discouraged. I too have felt despair many times in my life, but I do not keep a chair for it; I will not entertain it. It is not allowed to eat from my plate. The reason is this: In my uttermost bones I know something, as do you. It is that there can be no despair when you remember why you came to Earth, who you serve, and who sent you here. The good words we say and the good deeds we do are not ours: They are the words and deeds of the One who brought us here. In that spirit, I hope you will write this on your wall:
When a great ship is in harbor and moored, it is safe, there can be no doubt. But that is not what great ships are built for. This comes with much love and a prayer that you remember who you came from, and why you came to this beautiful, needful Earth.
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