Nina Gilberte is a high school mathematics teacher, who loves to write in her free time. She writes about the daily challenges, victories and life in general. Quiet time to Nina means she is alone in her orange room, somewhere outside with nature or in her classroom when all of her students are gone.
These poems are the results of her daily self-reflection and societal observation. She states that regardless of who we are, each of us have our daily challenges, and we need to find our own specific path to peace: some sing, some walk some run, others clean, talk or have fun.
Nina lives in the Verdugo mountains of Los Angeles with her husband as empty nesters (aside from two cats). They have three children; a son living in Santa Monica as a graphic designer, a daughter living in Rancho Cucamonga as an assistant registrar at a college campus, and another daughter who is currently a sophomore at a UC.
When Nina is not writing or having her quiet time, she draws and paints. Nina loves camping and cooking. She has influenced many to spend time outdoors and to cook without a recipe. Nina has a stove and a sink for cooking outside in her backyard.
This book is Nina's second published book of poems that is titled: To Peace I Have Traveled. Peace is a state of mind, a state of being that should not be easily shaken by what is going on around it. Come on! Rise above! It might be cloudy and raining, but if you move forward, you will be in a spot where you will see the sun. Maybe a rainbow! It might be waiting for you just around the corner, longing for you to smile! So do not get stuck in the gray!
One of Nina's children writes:
If there ever was a person that I had to pick who has taught me the most in life (so far), it would be my mother. She is just filled with compassion in everything she does. Even waking up early in the morning to enjoy a cup of coffee in the sun, walking in the pouring rain because it is just so much fun, singing loud and proud not caring if she has the right pitch or not, laying in the sun for hours fully clothed in long sleeve white (to protect her skin) and just exhilarated by the sun's energy.
Looking at her I always wonder if she has some secret handbook that's titled "How to Raise your Kids the Best Way," (maybe it's this book of poems). But really, all of these actions contribute to her being a strong mother. God has given her so many gifts and talents, which resonate throughout this book, and her life.
These are the journey that Nina has followed to be constructive in her life as a mother, a wife, a friend, a teacher, a daughter, a sister, a functioning citizen and a servant of The Creator of The Universe.
