Short stories and photos shared with humor and love
A tiny, bright light made her way into this crazy old world Friday morning and her name is Ronni Wren. Ronni becomes the 15th person to join our family since her great-grandfather, and namesake, Ron Kostelnik passed away in 1993. He left a prolific legacy of love and laughter that ripples through generations and from [...]
Had I known how my family would expand in such heart swelling ways, I might have been less wistful about each childhood’s swift passage. The milestones that took them away -- first steps, first day of school, college, that first real job, marriage -- actually made our family more whole. I know that now. I [...]
My Christmas elves have been making their way home this week and turning our wise, old house into their workshop. Lucky us! Our youngest daughter Molly was the first to arrive and she set right to work. "I'm going to fix some things around here," she announced. "I want to be handy." She asked if [...]
Back in the earlier innings of my parenting game, we used to call out “family hug” from any room in the house and everyone would come running for a squeeze. Any member could call it, and every member responded (some of those middle schoolers came with their eyes rolling hard. But they came!) That’s what [...]
My Sunday started with a swig of tea, a stroll to our cabin window to check out the view, strawberry rhubarb yogurt, a handful of grapes , some lively morning conversation and a slow walk through the woods. How extraordinary, I thought. How soul-soothingly beautiful to turn our faces toward the sun in step with [...]