Debbie (Ernst) Mischo

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Biography

I was born at Old St Joseph Hospital in Tacoma, WA and am the oldest of 2 children. My mother always said if she'd had my brother, Aaron, first that she probably wouldn't have had more kids. I joke that I was all quiet and watched a lot while my brother came out screaming and hasn't stopped since 1972. I grew up in Browns Point and attended BP Elementary and Meeker Junior High and then attended Stadium HS, graduating in 1987.

I earned my BA in Psychology in 1992 from Pacific Lutheran University and my MSW degree in 2002 from University of Washington, Tacoma. I've spent my entire adult life working in mental health and wouldn't do anything else. I currently am in private practice in Tacoma.

I married my HS sweetheart, John, in 2004. We were together for 4 years through hs and into college. We were too young and dealing with too much so we split. We didn't see each other for 15 years. Neither of us married or had kids. Around 2000, John became ill and nearly lost his life. He says that it made him realize that it's the people in your life that are truly important and make this adventure worth it. So he started looking people up. During those 15 years we both grew up quite a bit. Our birthdays are one year and one day apart (he's older), and he was going to visit the PNW over the birthdays in 2003. We decided, after many calls that lasted for hours, to meet up and see how each other was. By my birthday we were engaged. Currently we've been married for 15 years, and I can't imagine this adventure without him.

We tried to have kids, even doing a round of IVF. However, due to both of our health issues, it isn't safe (or even possible) for us to get pregnant. So we have pups. We lost our first girl, Miigwich (which means "thank you" in my family's tribal language), to cancer around 2014. In 2016 we adopted a sweet puppy named Nenabozho or Nena for short (Nenabozho was an iconic trickster in our tribe). These pups have been the lights of our lives and allowed us to experience a taste of parenthood.

I've worked inpatient and outpatient, in acute care, domestic violence (tribal and non), maternity support, dialysis, with military, with incarcerated youth, and now I'm in private practice. I love my time at conferences and treasure my time with my family.

2019 has been a hard year. In 11/18 we lost my last Grandma, 2/19 my Dad passed, and in that time we also lost 2 cousins. In 5/19 we had to move from the house we'd lived in for nearly 7 years and returned to Browns Point to my childhood home, which I inherited and my Dad built with buddies. We're grateful to be home near the Bay. While it's been a roller coaster, John and I remain committed to each other and our family. His love sustains me when I am challenged, and I believe it's the same for him. My goal is to leave the world a better place than I found it, and I think I'm doing that. I love hearing John say "I love you, now go save the world" when I leave for work. And the best part of my day is coming home to him and Nena.

That's about it for now. The adventure continues...

Sources

• First-hand information. Entered by Deborah Ernst at registration.