Who is Melissa?

Who is Melissa?  That sure is a loaded question and one that I struggle with every single day.

Here are the things I know for sure.  I am Melissa Goerke, born Melissa Altiero in 1967 in New Jersey and still here 44 years later. I have no plans to ever leave the beautiful Garden State.  I am married to Bill Goerke my very best friend and I really, really mean that. We share the parenting of a gorgeous, energetic, brilliant and creative redhead named Gracie.  We quickly learned that one redheaded female is a bit like having triplets, and we wisely stopped production at just one child

When not wielding my positive mental attitude I am battling Depression, which is an interesting juxtaposition to be sure.  It certainly makes for interesting writing!

I cherish the odd, quirky and unusual in all things.  Warning,  I’m not always politically correct but I truly am a nice person – trust me

I have been writing since the tender age of ten when I wrote my first novel.  No, it has never been published because is was absolutely horrible, but it kept me busy for a whole summer!  Blogging became my writing outlet back in 2005 with Digi Pick of the Day, a blog focused on my obsession with Digital Scrapbooking. From there I moved on to this more general mind dump of a blog aptly titled Melissa Thinks.

In addition to being a wife and mother, I was, until recently, an exec for a large and continually growing company. I had been on shrt term medical leave, but that recently became permanent medical leave.  Not a happy camper.

In July of 2010 I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, hence the Medical Leave, and MS has been a huge game changer for our family.  Living with a quickly progressing and incurable disease is testing everything I have ever believed and preached. I’m told I have a very aggressive form of the disease and  have accumulated permanent damage to my hands, legs and feet over the past year.  I have some truly down days, and learning how to work through those days and find a way to live in my new reality has become a huge focus of my writing. I have a unique opportunity to rebuild my life in a new framework and I challenge myself daily to see this as a new adventure.  I hope you will join me.

I truly cherish the relationships I have forged through the internet over the years and I look forward to always expanding my virtual family.  If you would like to connect choose any of the options below!

email: Melissa@MelissaThinks.com

Twitter: Melissa_Thinks