Table talk and a really kind soul
As long as I can remember, we have tried to sit at one of two particular tables at the Clubhouse inside the Red Lion Paper Valley Hotel, because they had pictures of my dad on them. Each table in that...
View ArticleTunnell vision and a really nice man
Emlen Tunnell, who followed a storied Coast Guard career with an equally impressive NFL career and was, by all accounts, a remarkable human being, once popped in to visit my dad, Ron Kostelnik. Having...
View ArticleUC’s biggest fan
The Bearcat's biggest fan stands just a well-coiffed hair shy of 5-foot-2 and has been a UC follower since 1959, when one of the football team's scholarship players offered to share his textbooks with...
View ArticleKeeping up with Mrs. Kostelnik (on her 83rd birthday)
A few weeks ago I called to check in on my mom because I had heard about some awful weather that was pummeling the area just south of where she stays during the winter. "I'm fine," she said. "I'm just...
View ArticleYesterday’s Kids (A guest post by Peggy Kostelnik)
The term “Super Ager” refers to people over 80 whose cognitive function compares to that of an average middle-ager. But, to me, super aging means so much more. It also emcompasses both physical and...
View ArticleThe Italian Job (right here in Wisconsin)
My son Vinnie and daughter in-law Danni discovered a little slice of Italy right here in Wisconsin and we couldn't be more thrilled for them (and for us). Located on the coast of Lake Pepin, the Villa...
View ArticleAbout that game
My sister Kathy already knew it was going to be a great day at Lambeau when she dropped her sunglasses on the escalator heading to her seats and a team of strangers rallied to send them back to her....
View ArticleGoogle is a shady friend
If you Google my mother’s name, you will discover that she died seven years ago, the victim of a horrifying crime. I know this because my mother, the vibrant and very much alive Peggy Kostelnik, called...
View ArticleAn abundance of Katherines and Mollys and Eds
Sometimes, all it takes is an abundance of Katherines and Mollys and Eds to turn a drizzly October weekend into something so enjoyable you hardly notice when the best franchise in the whole NFL plays...
View ArticleA jigger of kindness and the bells of St. Mary’s
It seemed just about right when our friend John Jorgensen texted a few nights ago to note with amusement that he and my mom, Grandma Peggy, were both pictured in the current edition of the Compass, the...
View ArticleHappy birthday Grandma Peggy
In the days leading up to her 84th birthday, my mom completed three crosswords each morning, raced us to the Wordle, swam every afternoon, negotiated an auto repair, wrote a poem, played tennis with...
View ArticleGrandma Peggy meets her namesake
My mom called me from her flip phone on a sunny spring day. “Laura,” she said. “I can’t do Facetime but I want you to know that our baby is beautiful.” I know this, of course. “Our baby” is my mom’s...
View ArticleAl fresco season
Al fresco season blew into Wisconsin on a charcoal-scented cloud this weekend and we all -- traveling troubadours, weekend skippers, ATV drivers, backyard barbecuers, Timber Rattler tailgaters, cabin...
View ArticleHi neighbor!
We got to hang with the people in our neighborhood Monday night at a block party more than five years in the making. In the time since our last block party, families got bigger, new faces moved in,...
View ArticleWhen the matriarch’s a tennis coach
If you want to know what it’s like to be raised by a high school tennis coach, just witness our most recent family get together. Like many of our little social gatherings, it involved a painstakingly...
View ArticleThe team behind Lombardi’s team
Today's NFL players have become whole businesses. They hire trainers, nutritionists, accountants, managers, physical therapists and agents to support them year-round. When the average career span in...
View ArticleLove behind a lens
I can't tell you how cranky my mom and I were when my sister Jenny sent us on an errand earlier this week, and how grateful I am for the magical rabbit hole it sent me down. The errand was to pick up a...
View ArticleA legacy of grace
In the days leading up to her death, Cherry Starr had agreed to help my daughter Katherine and me with a project we’re working on. And, though we’ll always be sad we were not able to complete our...
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