2009-02-06T16:44:00.003-08:00

My name is Eva Robertson. I grew up in Canada and attended the National Ballet School in Toronto, between the ages of 10 and 18. After traveling for a year abroad, I danced professionally with the National Ballet of Canada and American Ballet Theatre in New York City, under the direction of Mikhail Baryshnikov. I quit dancing at age 25 and attended New York University, where I graduated with an honors degree in English Literature. I subsequently earned a law degree at the University of Pennsylvania, and worked at the law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius in New York and Philadelphia for three years.

In 1999, I met my husband, Jeffrey Tang, and paid off the last big chunks of my law school loans. I said goodbye to New York City for good, and moved to Philadelphia to be with Jeff while he earned a doctorate degree at Penn in the history and sociology of science and technology. I joined the Philadelphia District Attorney's office as a beginning prosecutor in the appeals unit. The job was a step down in pay, but a big step up in happiness. I worked with some of the smartest, funniest people I'll ever meet, and had a great time writing briefs and arguing cases in the appellate courts.

In 2001, Jeff and I married. Our son, Kieran Tang, was born in August, 2003. I was a first-time mom at the age of 38, and beside myself with joy. I wanted a little girl and was lucky enough to have Norah, in 2006, just after our family moved to Virginia, where Jeff landed a tenure-track job at James Madison University.

I am a full-time mom now. It has been hard adjusting to small town life and to leaving my career in law. Still, I am happier than I have ever been. We can afford a big, lovely home, and I have rediscovered my passion for writing. Not as a student or a lawyer now, but as a middle-aged woman with a strong desire to tell stories and to reflect on the life I am living with my family. I work part-time as a ballet teacher at JMU and at a local dance academy. I volunteer at my son's elementary school, play tennis, and do a lot of reading and writing. I have made a couple of wonderful friends here.

While I love being a parent to my children, I don't see it as my only calling. I will return to the work force some day, but I am biding my time now and deciding whether I'd like to practice law again or simply pursue writing in the hopes that I might make a little additional income from it, if not a viable salary. I would love to develop an online community of readers with whom to share my reflective life. Please join me!

ABOUT THE DOGWOOD DIARIST