“Do you ever realize how much one decision can change your life? Sometimes, you cannot even imagine. I am a sitting circuit court judge for two counties in Florida with almost 1.4 million people. Twenty years ago, I moved from a town with a total population of less than 60,000. How did this happen? What was the catalyst? Was it luck, hard work, perseverance, stubbornness, or all of the above?

In 1997, I was bored. I had a job I enjoyed, was married to a wonderful man, we had a great home, I was close to family, and I was bored. Johnson City, Tennessee, is the town where I grew up. I was 28 years old and had never lived outside of a 20-mile radius … I was bored.”