Gail was born on a small farm in Michigan and raised in Detroit at the height of its auto-industry glory. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from the School of Speech at Northwestern University, she married and began family life in Chicago.

Gail raised five children as her family moved to Kansas City, then Buenos Aires, Argentina, then back to the Chicago area, which she now calls home. She received her Master’s Degree in Social Work from the Jane Adams School of Social Work at the University of Illinois at the age of fifty, then worked as a counselor for twenty-eight years. During those years, she loved facilitating women’s therapy groups, believing that much healing and growth takes place as women share their stories with one another in a safe and confidential space.

After completing a program in Spiritual Direction with the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in 2000, Gail created a women’s group called Journey of the Spirit. This group values learning about how the contemplative expressions of a variety of faith traditions deepens understanding of our own spiritual path. She enjoys leading retreats and meeting with individuals who seek Spiritual Direction. Gail calls herself a contemplative and a seeker who values all faith traditions for the piece of truth each one holds.

Gail loves spending time with her five grown children and their families; trees, flowers, squirrels, and such; reading; quilting; playing her guitar and, most recently, her banjo; and admiring her miniature world. Writing feeds her soul and, as she writes, she falls into poetry now and again. It always surprises her when that happens.