The Academy

About the Book

I attended St. Mary Academy in Monroe, Michigan. I was a resident student for the majority of my teenage years from fourteen to seventeen. I had a reputation of being a rebel, so I was sent there for discipline. This story is about the trouble I got into in those four years. I was raised and taught by the nuns. It took me a while, but I soon realized that my actions had to stop. Slowly, over those years, because of the tough love from the nuns, I literally went from crayons to perfume as the song “To Sir with Love” said.

About the Author

About the Author Born on August 20, 1950, I grew up on the east side of Detroit and went to St. Phillip Neri Catholic School. I had an adopted brother, eight years my elder. In 1967, we moved to St. Clair Shores. I loved tap dancing, entertaining, music, and sports. At thirteen, I was sent to St. Mary Academy in Monroe, Michigan. My mother told me I was going because the nuns at St. Phillips didn’t want me back—I caused trouble. After graduation, I worked full-time as a waitress and short-order cook to pay for college. I attended college and received my degree in theology and elementary education. I taught at St. Gertrude’s in St. Clair Shores. That’s where I met my husband. We married in 1972; had my son, Jason, in 1977; and divorced in 1980. I then moved to St. Clair Shores. There I lived for thirty-four years, and I ran a state-licensed day care in my home for twenty-five years until I retired.