Occupation: I'm a retired Spanish and French teacher. I taught for 25 years, at Melrose School in Brewster; in Region 7 in Winsted; and Region 15 in Middlebury and Southbury. I'm presently teaching Spanish at the Newtown Senior Center.

Family: My husband, Arthur, is also retired. He was director of administration and resources for a nonprofit in New York City. We have two daughters. Virginia and her husband, Andy Drap, live here. They have two children. Andrew is 17 and Susannah is 12. Our daughter Rachel lives in Austin, Texas. She has an 8-year-old daughter named Isabel Louise.

Pets: We have a cat. She's a cute little brown cat named Brooklyn. She actually belongs to Andrew and Susannah, but she's living with us right now.

How long have you lived here? We've been in Sandy Hook for 36 years. We moved here from Trumbull.

What do you like to do in your free time? I take exercise and yoga classes at the Newtown Senior Center. I belong to a book club and the Garden Club of Newtown, and I drive for FISH. At Newtown Congregational Church, I'm involved with the Circle of Hope and I teach Sunday School. I like to bake, I like to garden, and I like to read.

Do you have a favorite book? In my book club, we've read essays, nonfiction, and fiction. One of my most favorite, though, is The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I like reading about people who get their just desserts, and this book exposed what had been done to this woman and her family. HELA cancer cells were extracted from Henrietta, this was back in the 1950s. For some reason, the cells did not die and have been replicated and are still used in all kinds of research. But her family never benefited from it. This book is now being used in schools to teach ethics.

Do you have a favorite travel destination? We like to go to Maine, when we can get away. Specifically, we like to go to New Harbor, Bar Harbor, and Acadia National Park. We started going there because Arthur had originally gone there as a young man, with his family. The coastline is so beautiful, and we love the seafood. We do like to hike there.

What is the best thing about Newtown? I like the people you meet at the library, the town hall, the grocery store, and at church. I like that I can come very quickly up to town from Sandy Hook to go to concerts at Edmond Town Hall and the movies.

What is the biggest change you have noticed in town? Lots more traffic. When we moved here, I think there were far fewer traffic lights between our house and Main Street.

Who has been the greatest influence in your life? My mother. She was a very strong woman. She was talented in all sorts of ways. She knew how to do all sorts of things that we now hire out - she could sew, knit, crochet, and cook. My parents kept a big garden. Arthur's grandmother was another influence. When we first married, she lived with us for a number of years. To listen to her talk about her life, you realize our parents and grandparents really did things. I do admire these very strong women in our family.

If you could spend a day with anyone, who would you choose? I think I would like to spend a day with Mary Hawley. I would love to see how that woman ticked.

Do you have a guilty pleasure? We subscribe to Netflix, so I tend to binge watch programs. I especially like the BBC, Australian, and Canadian shows. Murdoch Murder Mysteries is one of my favorites. One of the Australian ones I really like is Miss Fisher's Mysteries.