Author: Ron Stempkowski
"Emotional Muscle" Memory
It feels like I’m standing on the edge of a great precipice. And I’ve stood here before. As I mentioned in a previous blog, my pup Kallie Kismet is scheduled for knee surgery tomorrow. (Co... Read More
The Unflattering History of Sports (and me)
My first attempt at sports left a bad taste in my mouth. The briny taste of tears, in fact. I was five or six and was “encouraged” to sign up for little league baseball like all the other ... Read More
A Blog about a Dog (or two)
A late birthday gift–of sorts–last year, I brought Kalpurnia “Kallie” Kismet Derson Stempkowski home one year ago today. She changed everything, and I can hardly remember (exce... Read More
…And Many More
Yesterday I turned 45. It’s my third birthday since Ken died, and it’s also a date that will forever fall two weeks after the profound date of his death. The dates have been so emotionally... Read More
Trick or Treat
June 1 will always be a mixed bag for me. Like a bully looming at the edge of the playground of my month, I know I have to take the path that leads in his direction and somehow face him. May was drain... Read More
Trudging through the Melancholy of May
I had the coolest dream last night. I was part of an elite espionage team on some kind of dangerous mission to stop some bad guy from doing something…well…bad. Unfortunately, our team of a... Read More
Magic Time
[wpvideo t5qSGZlm]Ken loved candles. Once he found the battery operated flickering candles at Costco, our apartment was soon filled with them. They had timers in them, so they “lit” each e... Read More
The Further Adventures of the Unwitting Gardener
Spring has finally sprung in Chicagoland–after a long and crappy winter. The uptick in the weather coincided with a week-long staycation. And gnawing on my work-free agenda has been getting the ... Read More