Steven J Kolbe

Friends, Family, and Current Residents,

I’m always daunted by the Herculean task of condensing the lives of the Millers into two pages. How can all the key events of an entire year fit onto such a small space? An account of the variety and amount of cereal we ate alone would take up an entire chapter of a book–albeit a rather dull book. Luckily, this year I’m teaching British literature. If my textbook can cover medieval England in two pages, replete with colorful graphs on the Black Death, then surely I can handle one year. (Especially since we were mostly spared from the plague.) 

A Time of Tremendous Growth OR Everyone Got Taller but Me

Okay, so Susan also didn’t get any taller either, but you get my point. Lucy has transformed from a baby to a babbling toddler, capable of surmounting any obstacle between her and sharp objects we placed in what we thought were high-up, safe places. Her first steps were toward a slice of Mama’s pizza, which Mama withdrew at the last second. Her first words were, “Hey, I wanted that pizza,” or something comparable probably. (She enunciates like a lunatic.) Margot has conquered the alphabet and numbers up to 99; although, our first lefty, she still writes her name backward half the time. I told her that Greek scribes plowed their manuscripts in both directions, alternating after each line, but her kindergarten teacher still prefers she not write like an eccentric classicist. (I’m just as surprised and disappointed as you are.) Charlie has become an avid reader and sport enthusiast. He’s working his way through The Magic Treehouse series. He just finished book 1001 of 12.2 million. We’ll let you know if he ever finishes. Bonnie has taken her reading up a notch, juggling several different series, and she’s doing some writing of her own, a pastime I try my best to discourage. (Joking!) She’s also in full communion with the Church. (Thank goodness that heresy trial is firmly behind us!) After her first reconciliation and communion last spring, she now joins us in taking the blessed sacrament, approaching the altar in reverence and returning to our pew in a state of contemplation. (There’s no undercutting bathos here. The respect she shows the body of Christ is inspiring.) Susan continues to grow as a teacher, nearing the end of her master’s degree. As graduation draws nigh, we are planning a beach trip–a few weeks of relaxation for Mama and the kids’ first time seeing the ocean! Finally, both Susan and I increased our hand-eye coordination for the first time since grade school thanks to our new obsession: pickleball. A silly name for a delightful pastime. Thanks to the public courts at our disposal, we’re able to get in at least three games a week, which we’ve done in every weather but snow. (Next year, we’ll be sure to let you all know how it compares to skiing.)

Cash Crops and Agricultural Developments

I started the year with a series of doctor’s visits, which ended with me doing a FODMAP elimination diet. I ate mostly rice for a few months and discovered that I’m not lactose-intolerant! However, I can’t eat wheat. Unleavened and commercially leavened wheat. I’m currently trying to learn how to bake with sourdough starter. (My first loaf took me all day, but at least it was inedible.) I announced to Bonnie that we would “make” her a “pet.” She got very excited until the next day when I got out the flour. “We’re going to make a pet out of dough?” Several tantrums later (and some help from Aunt Betsy) and we have Bonnie’s new pet, which she has named “Doe.” She’s mostly happy about it. As I continue to experiment with the culinary arts, the children continue to consume most of their calories in the form of chicken nuggets. 

Last Year

It was difficult to see the humor and the blessings in our lives last year. Without going into the gruesome details, it was a difficult and inward-turning year, but one that spurred a tremendous amount of reflection. My step-brother Parrish passed away unexpectedly while we were already dealing with several challenges. When Christmas came, I could barely summon the cheer to put the ornaments on the Christmas tree, let alone write a tongue-in-cheek letter about our foibles.

One of my least favorite lines of scripture is John 3:16. I have always found it overly simplistic as it fails to demand anything of the faithful, letting every lazy believer off the hook. But it is also inexorably bound to my step-brother. In the form of a joke. Once at Sunday school, they passed out slips of paper with that verse and a blank to put your name. My step-brother’s, once amended, read as follows: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that Parrish should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Parrish should not perish! We laughed about that for how many years? Sharing a room, we sometimes talked when we couldn’t sleep–talked about what we thought would happen after we died, about how the universe began and would end, about the nature of God. Sunday school didn’t enter into those conversations very much. To us, John 3:16 was just the source of a dumb joke. Now, thirty years later, there’s nothing dumb about it. Nothing dumb at all. 

Merry Christmas, 

The Millers (Steven 39, Susan 39, Bonnie 9, Charlie 7, Margot 5, Lucy 1)