About Me

Bio

Most days I wonder how I got here. The plurality of a life of taking conventional and unconventional roads, following personal and professional passions and detours through the chapters of life, with the constant of words transmissible and transmuted, is at the center of who I am. I am a GenX writer/poet who is also a wife, mother, grandmother, family historian, genealogist, yogini, violinist, and breast cancer warrior, with a corporate day job I love, living with my Gen Jones husband, Chris, in our down-sized, empty nest, tiny bungalow in the semi-suburban tri-state area of Cincinnati, Ohio (Northern Kentucky), dreaming of being on the beach with a book and a notebook more days than not.

Books, films, and music are a big thing for me. I am an avid reader with a personal library of more than 1200 physical books, less than a third that number of DVDs, an average collection of vinyl, cassettes, and CDs for my age that I can’t bear to part with even though I’ve been streaming for two decades. So much for the fantasy of tiny house, RV, or van life living, although it’s tempting.

My interests include being a semi-literate foodie, travelling as much as I can, feeding my torrid curiosity of digging into the past, embracing the great fun of empty nest life with friends new and old, and doing things that hopefully cause healthy longevity while still having fun.

Thank you for visiting and participating in my journey along Our Humble Road.

~Melissa Gerdes Zapanta

Melissa holds degrees in Liberal Arts / Pre-Education and Women’s Studies from the University of Cincinnati and has studied Comparative Literature at both the University of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky University. She has been published in regional newspapers and magazines: The Community Press and Community Recorder newspapers, Creative Living Magazine, The Kentucky Post, The Cincinnati Enquirer, and The Sunday Challenger, among others. Her poetry has appeared in the Seven Hills Review and the Licking River Review.

INTERESTS

Writing / Books / Films

Food / Travel

Genealogy

Parenting / Family / Empty Nest Life

Healthy Living