By the end of this week my two youngest kids will be finished school and on to summer vacation. This marks the start of a new season in our family. Some things stay the same, but many will change. In many ways I like the change. It’s new and different. [...]read more

My 16 year old daughter, Riley, has been playing a game every time she is in the car since she was a little girl. The game couldn’t be easier: when you see a yellow car the first person to say “yellow car” wins. It’s become so ingrained in Rittler car [...]read more

The past four days have been some of the most joy filled days of my life. My son was married on Friday in Lexington, Virginia. I’m so proud of Caleb and his new wife, Emily. Wednesday we left for Roanoke, where the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner was on Thursday. Friday [...]read more

August 21, 2011 I drove away from Virginia Tech leaving my oldest son there to navigate his way through freshman year of college. Friday, that young man I dropped off four years ago graduated. We spent the weekend celebrating and remembering. We went to the Frosty Parrot for frozen yogurt. [...]read more

My mom wanted to have a different kind of relationship with my brother and me than she did with her mom. My grandmother was difficult to please and judgmental. My mom grew up with the pressure to please, but never felt good enough. It’s easy to repeat the negative patterns [...]read more