Darlene was born on January 11th 1951 in Buffalo, New York. When she was younger she spent a lot of time playing kickball, catch, hide and seek, and board games. Both her siblings and herself spent time at Niagara falls with it being less than 30 minutes away.

When she was growing up throughout childhood and teen years she wanted to be a vet, and even worked in an animal lab. She chose to steer away from that path when she saw that animals got tested on.

Her first job was at a library, where she put away books. She remembers making about a dollar per hour.

Darlene's first car was a Ford LTD from either 68/69 and it was baby blue. This car was left to her when her father passed away.

Her favorite memories are when her mother had her four brothers. As well as when I was born, because she wasn't able to have kids herself, and she says i'm the closest shes ever had to one. She is very family oriented, so having her brothers around meant a lot to her.

Her mom was the stereotypical mom, who did all of the cooking and cleaning. Darlene's dad died when she was 12, so my fathers dad was her father figure. Lived on a cul-de-sac so the neighborhood kids spent most of their time together.

Darlene liked school, and excelled in it. She did Cheer (in the long skirts) and track. She was a social butterfly and many people liked her. She did not really date but when she did she said it was "trouble"

Her best subjects were english and math.

Her worst were social studies and science

The inventions she really liked and used were Etch-A-Sketch (1960), As well as Audio Cassette's (1962) in which she had a huge collection of them.

Darlene went to a University at Buffalo college to study business in Buffalo for two years. She worked in offices for a little bit until she met my uncle.

One of Darlene's office jobs was working for my Uncle Dave. She was 22 when they got married, while he was 42 in the year 1973 . They had a very happy marriage until he died in 2011.

She is now in a happy relationship with a man named Evan 4 years her junior.

Dave and Darlene were married at a ministers rose garden. It was a small ceremony with 6 guests including her four brothers Derrick, Damon, Kenny and Gerry, her mom, her uncle, and Dave's oldest child.

Darlene couldn't pick just one life event that had the greatest impact so she narrowed it down to two.

Her mother died from brain cancer in 1998 and her husband died of pancreatic cancer in 2011. This had the greatest effect on her because they were the people she was closest too.

9/11 is the world event that affected her the most. She lives in upstate New York, and when this event happened, it effected everyone. But it hit harder in New York. As well as the Vietnam war because she lost a few friends, in the war.

Her most treasured item is a wedding ring that has been passed through three generations. Her grandma, and mom both had it previously. Its a platinum gold band with a small diamond in the middle.

They had big family celebrations for holidays. But now all of her siblings are spread out around the U.S. , both of her parents are gone as well as one of her brothers. But now family does visit her including both my father and I.

Darlene wants people to remember that she loved her family and put them before everyone else. She likes to talk, and she prides herself in having a good sense of humor. Lastly she wants people to remember she really loves her cats Jazzy and Shady.

The most difficult thing about growing up in her opinion is figuring out what you want to do with your life and being in charge of herself.

The most rewarding thing is being responsible for yourself and making your own decisions.

Darlene said she has 3 things of advice for teens.

1.) Always try to put your family first, they are the most important people around.

2.) listen to your parents even when you don't want to, they know what they are talking about.

3.) don't take people in your life for granted, they can pass at any time.