I had been aware of amateur radio for a long, long time (if you believe my birth date information that this site had recorded for me - the year was 0000) but it was my son (K4GDW) who convinced me to study and take the tests.

At the time he was studying for his general upgrade I was driving for him due to vision problems related to MS so I attended his general class with him. I was also working in health care emergency preparedness at the health department here and I saw a lot of potential for the use of HAM technology and volunteers to solve a number of communication issues for health care facilities during disasters; that was the final nudge that got me through a technician class – plus K4GDW giving me a scholarship to the class.

I tested and passed element 2 in June 2006, element 1 on December 12, 2006, and element 3 on January 8, 2007. I had been studying for the extra upgrade but got sidetracked in October 2007 when my husband died.