Shoshana J CotéShoshana J. Coté grew up in Ohio. Her earliest memories are of laughter and good food while celebrating the Jewish holidays with family and friends. Even into her teen years, that spiritual and cultural environment produced in her a rich inner life. hether at synagogue for a Sabbath service, at a weekend youth event or a summer camp, the prayers in Hebrew and English had a profound effect on her. Those prayers went forth in song, and the whole community sang together whether in joy or in sadness. The song leader (cantor) at the synagogue did not happen to be Jewish, but he could sing! The liturgical music planted seeds in her-melody, poetry and prayer all grew in the same garden. On the other side of the family, she had Catholic grandparents who prayed quietly but often for their grandchildren. It is likely that those prayers-together with the devotional life she witnessed among Catholic friends-influenced her path. Shoshana moved to New England in high school. It was at that time that she began to explore what had come down to her from both sets of grandparents. This exploration, which continued over a period of several years, deepened her love and gratitude for her Jewish heritage and introduced her to the liturgical world of prayer and song in Catholic and Orthodox churches. Shoshana is an adjunct professor at a community college and a cantor at a local Catholic church. Her Hungarian-Jewish-Irish-Catholic roots nourish her poetic life and faith. She also belongs to the Secular Franciscan Order, a Catholic "third order" of men and women who live in the world but seek to follow the example of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Clare of Assisi and other Franciscans. She especially likes the example set by the Franciscans of the Holy Land. They have lived and worked peacefully among Jews, Muslims, and Christians (Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant) for 800 years. Shoshana and her husband have two grown children and now share their home with an affectionate tortoise-shell cat named Flora and multiple happy fish. Read More Read Less