I am 58 years old, married 40 years, and live in a small community on an island in SE Alaska. I have a vacation rental and tours marketing and reservations business. My husband and I have 3 adult children, 7 grandchildren and a dog and a cat. We are originally from North Florida and have a cabin in the woods there, home of my heart, where we hope to partially retire to. My business is very mobile, so I travel every time I get the chance to. My passions are writing, gardening, naturally, and meeting other like-minded people.

How did you get to where you are now?

A long, twisted winding road...  I was raised with the mind set that I would marry, have a family and that would be it. My family were very poor, country, but good people. I was mostly raised by my grandparents, with some influence from my mom. My husband and I married young and lived in our small town. In 76 he was offered a job in Saudi Arabia, so we moved there with our 3 young children and it changed our lives. Opened our eyes to a world outside of our home town. Our lives were never the same. 

There have been many varied paths taken since then, but that one decision, moving to Saudi changed the main road and took us into areas that I could never have imagined as a child. 

As a child my main love was writing and while in Saudi I had the opportunity to develop writing and design skills, which again grew and changed my life eventually. 

Too long a story and too many turns and twists to share here..

How do you see yourself differently now than you did 10 years ago?

At ten, my real love was writing. I was quite and shy and easily hurt. I found my peace with pen in hand and later a typewriter. When given a choice of a typewriter or a bike, I chose the first. I never even learned to ride a bike.. I never dreamed of being a writer, I just was. It was never suggested I could make a living with it, it was just something I did. Now everything I do centers around words and design, although it's on the web now.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

Still working but on my own schedule just doing the parts of my business that I want to do, keeping it mobile. I enjoy helping people planning their vacation so may find that hard to give up. I hope to be flying back and forth overseeing my business in Alaska, but living in Florida in the forest in my cabin, which I rent as a vacation rental now as we only go there a few weeks per year. www.sharonscabin.com 

Dear Sharon, Keep up the hard work. Things are tough now, but you will pull out of it and find a wonderful life. You are going to have many challenges along the way, each of them will help to make you the person you were meant to be. There will come a day when you change lives with the words that fall from your pen. You're lucky to have your grandma and grandpa to help you through the rough times you have as a child. So many children don't have that. Be that person for someone else in the future. Love will find a way..

Ruthie Furman, for her strong spirit and love of life and others.

Katherine Hepburn, for her strength and audacity.

My grandmother for her strength, her love and her listening

My grandfather, for his patience with a small child