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Miki Coxon
May 2, 1952

(born: Mave Marie Senkow)

On Being Me

If blonde is beautiful, then I am not.
If eyes are fair when blue, well, mine are green,
And grace that others have, I have not got.
A well proportioned shape, I've never been.

I know I do not always have good taste.
Where others nod, I often disagree.
For me to wear fine clothes would be a waste,
As they would hang the same as rags on me.

Still, there are those much uglier than I,
And shapes less pleasing to the eye than mine.
All beauty in the world can't meet the eye.
If sometimes I complain, I do not whine.
I try to do the things in life I must
And if I am not fair, at least I'm just.

- Miki -

Me as a cowgirl, age 2

My parents first took me horseback riding when I was less than two years old. As I understand it, one day while visiting friends who owned horses, they discovered me in the field trying to climb up one of the horses' legs. In the years that followed, I spent almost every week end riding.

I have a true love of learning and have always taken my education seriously. My motto: No matter how much I know about something, there's always more to learn. A positive attitude and an inquisitive nature have generally kept me from being bored. (My grandma always said: "There is no such thing as boring; only boring people.")

Married at a very early age, I studied at Liverpool University in England for the first year of my BA. At the end of that year, economics being the way they were in England at the time, Les and I decided to come back here. I ended up finishing my BA at night school, often juggling three growing boys, housework and a full time job. In December 1989, I received my BA, with a major in Psychology and a minor in English Language and Literature, summa cum laude, from Grand Valley State University.

I continue to study - now technical subjects, like systems analysis and design and computer programming - because I am actually employed as the Application Design Coordinator for Michigan's ASSIST project. Quite a hike from the degree in Psychology!

At mom and dad's store, Lakeside Electric, with the "Witch Doctor", 1958

Falling From Grace

As graceful as a newborn kitten
Stylish as a clown
I am
The word that's out of place.
I can
Trip over dust
Fall over nonexistant chairs
With nonchalance
Born of calluses
Where bruises aught to be.
I am
Ash on a just swept rug
A spill
On a new washed desk.
As apt as glue
On piano strings
Just after tuning
I say
What no one else does
When no one else would
And if I wonder
What I do
It's usually
After.

- Miki -

At the Harbor Terrace Gate, 1966

Lake District, England, 1970

At Mona Lake with the 3 boys, 1983

Les and me, Niagara Falls 1996

The Senkow Family, Summer 1959. (I'm in the front row - far right.)

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