It all started with General Hospital.

I grew up in a small Nebraska town, the youngest of 6 children. My parents were raised on farms and went on to college to become teachers. My dad was a superintendent/principal/coach at the high school level. My mom taught in rural schools—mostly kindergarten and first grade.

My family and most of my teachers expected me to become a doctor. I graduated first in my high school class of 22 students, after all! And smart kids became doctors, right? But there also were those in my town who thought I'd never amount to much of anything, given my reputation for mischief. Let's just say, as a friend of mine put it, that "we provided our own entertainment" in order to keep things interesting.