I've had Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis in every joint since I was 7 months old; I'm legally disabled (receiving SSDI and on Medicare), but do some freelance web design and writing. I'm happily married; we have 5 cats, who we love as if they were our children. I had to put down my Siamese girl Sugar on 4/24/08, who was 17 and dying of kidney failure. I'm a member of an unprogrammed Quaker meeting and also have taken my Buddhist Refuge, Bodhisattva, and Precept vows. I've been given the dharma name Tenzing Chodron, which means "truth light holder of the teachings".

I am both a follower of Jesus and a follower of the Buddha and view them both as spiritual teachers.