Welcome to Families First Monthly

From The Heart

The Oct/Nov issue is one of my favorites to put together. There are two holidays – Halloween and Thanksgiving – and autumn harvest happenings to enjoy, and it’s the annual baby issue. The stories are fun to find and to read.

I encourage everyone to read the Halloween-themed Jester story written by Jackie Bojarski. I know you will enjoy her tale. Check out our events calendar and KidBits column to find fall activities and festivals.

Thanksgiving is one of the best days of the year for me because – stuffing. No, really it is that the essence of it swirls throughout the house—intermingled smells of food and fall, warmth from the oven and moist heat from the stove top, the made-with-love side dishes and desserts (even potato peels smell like love) and of course the family and friends present; and then too the family members who are not there due to being far away or having passed, who are with us still in hearts and minds so clear.

Our own family baby issue is that in September my heart baby grandson Arlo, age 2 1/2, had his third and final open-heart surgery to modify his heart. He was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome. The surgery was a success and now healing from the incision, he is the happy toddler he was. He loves his big brother Otto and dinos, his batman cape, the Hulk, playing golf, and throwing and catching balls. Those who love him are happy and thankful things went so well and that the surgeries are behind him.

Thank you for reading Families First Monthly and enjoy your holiday-packed fall.

Laura Lee Kalchik