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Family Member

Real Name: Fran Hopkins

Joined: 13 Sep 2005 05:10 PM

Last activity: 30 Sep 2006 05:44 PM

Bio

Fran Hopkins is a Baby Boomer who just turned 50 and is trying to adjust! Prematurely widowed at age 40, Fran is a single parent to her 16-year-old son. She recently learned that she's also a "Mingle" -- a middle-aged single! Yet she's a Mingle who's deeply in love with and committed to her "boy"friend (she thinks the boyfriend/girlfriend terminology sounds silly when you're middle-aged) of nearly three years.

The Hopkins humans are far outnumbered by the animal members of their family: two Pug dogs, three cats and two parakeets. Besides being an animal lover, Fran likes traveling, especially carefree cruises to sunny islands. The entire Hopkins household (pets included!) enjoys an annual tradition of summertime stays at the Jersey shore. Fran also loves gardening and birdwatching.

Although at one time Fran expected to spend her career at a major insurance company, where she was involved with setting coverage policies for medical plans and health claims, she left that behind eight years ago to pursue her real love, writing. Today she's a professional freelance writer and editor who started her own business, MessagePros LLC, in 2002.

Fran's a college graduate with a degree in English. Her articles on a wide variety of topics have been published in local, state, and national magazines, as well as on the Web. She also writes for web sites and newsletters and has edited Web content, journal articles, and books.

For her Baby Boomers Blog here at Families.com, Fran draws upon a variety of sources. She describes her personal experiences with, and observations of, life as a Baby Boomer, often with a lighthearted tone. At other times her writing is more serious, reflecting the often-diffcult issues that Boomers may face during midlife.

Fran loves to research, so she'll often include articles, statistics, information and/or links she's found on the Internet that she thinks will be interesting or helpful to her fellow Boomers. She also enjoys interviewing the "experts" and, about once a month, posts an interview with someone whose experiences or expertise she believes may enlighten, inspire or entertain her Blog's readers.