I was born and raised in New Haven, Connecticut. My family is deaf as it runs in our genes. I have been deaf since birth. My parents had two schnauzers that I grew up with. They were the best therapy dogs. Growing up I was never without a miniature schnauzer. I started a family of my own when I was 21 years old . We had 4 schnauzers with my new family . I have 6 beautiful children who are also deaf. The schnauzers played a big part of their lives. My first born son Joshua had two schnauzers (Mumi and Mandi) of his own that slept and played with him. Tragically he passed away at the age of 22 months old. My world was turned upside down.

No parents should have experienced a loss of their child . It was a very difficult time of my life . I kept Joshua ‘s two schnauzers close to fill the void and addressed my grief. I was a landscape architect at the time after graduating from University of Arizona, a landscaping business I operated for 22 years . In 2000 I sold my landscape business