Patty George, Neighbor

My name is Patty George and I’m a new Virginian, but am already discovering why so many people love to live here.  My last “home” was in New York City, which was truly a unique ten- month experience for my whole family.  I have a BS from West Point (’88) and a Masters degree from Vanderbilt (’92).  My husband, Randy, and I have been married for 22 years and we have two children:  our son Grant is set to begin his sophomore year at Cornell University; our daughter Andie will be a junior at Yorktown High School.  We have a bagel dog (a beagle-basset hound mix) named Louise.  We “adopted” her (or maybe she adopted us!) from an Iowa humane society six years ago in the middle of a move from Italy to Kentucky.

I spent about four years on active duty in the Army.  My first duty station was with the 101^st Airborne (Air Assault) Division at Ft. Campbell, KY.  I deployed to Desert Storm where I served in support of 1^st Brigade, Bastogne Bulldogs.  Since leaving the Army, I have been actively involved with family readiness working at almost all levels as a volunteer, mentor and advisor.  Additionally, I actively volunteer within my community in areas including newsletter editor, school and summer camp programs, fitness classes, military spouses’ charitable foundations and community outreach efforts in support of the military. I’ve published articles and stories in Colorado magazines and newspapers and I just finished a book about life as an Army family that I hope to have published.   

I love to adventure and although I get lost (a lot), I’ve collected some amazing experiences while trying to find my path. I’m excited to discover new grand adventures in this area and I hope I can share some of them with you in the Patch.   I’ve climbed mountains, jumped out of airplanes and run marathons, but the hardest, scariest and most rewarding thing I’ve ever done is be a Mom.