Dear Family, Sophie married Luke Wonnacott shortly before noon on Friday in the Washington D.C. Temple. The rest of the month is kind of a blur. It’s New Year’s Eve and I don’t have a lot of time to write, but let’s see what I can remember. Apart from being a last-minute addition to the…
Ari’s EPISTOLARIUS: Insert Clever Title Edition— September-December 2024
Dear Family, Insert obligatory self-deprecating joke in place of an apology for how late this letter is. To my credit, I made the commitment to myself to get it done before Christmas, and given how much of the body of this letter has been completed, I think I might actually manage to keep that. Take…
Sophie’s November: When She Realized That Some Callings Really Are Better Than Others
Dear Family, There are so many mundane things that become more exciting when done alongside people you care about. One of those things is, it turns out, flying on a tiny little airplane across the country to a place that people in Utah call “Washington,” even though the most sensible thing to call it is…
On being grateful in all things; e.g., the benefits of being Roland Kent’s sister, sharing Thanksgiving with (most of) my daughters, and the very most fun I’ve ever had directing a choir (vol. xxviii, no. 11)
Dear Family, Crystal learned this month that if you need a good spine surgeon, it’s really helpful to be Roland Kent’s sister. If you are a faithful reader of my letters (and have a good memory) you already know that Crystal’s back surgery last spring — performed by a surgeon more conveniently located to us…
Sophie’s October: When She and Everyone Else Were Really Quite Tired
Dear Family, This month, I just love people. I’ve been getting better at interacting with important people in my life in the spare moments, and I’ve noticed that they’ve also been trying a little harder to spend time with me. And it just makes me so happy. A friend from a previous semester stopped by…
On other people’s health challenges, Hannah’s new job, Boo at the Zoo, and an evening with Renée Fleming (vol. xxviii, no. 10)
Dear Family, Hopefully all of you have learned by now that if you don’t want the details of your latest health challenges chronicled on the internet, then you’re probably better off not sharing them with me. I have genuine concern for how you’re doing — and I’m actually good at keeping secrets. But you have…
Sophie’s September: When She Tried on Pretty Dresses
Dear Family, It’s crazy to think that my wedding dress shopping experience was just at the beginning of September; it feels like it was ages ago now. But after my experience looking at wedding dresses in Latvia, I got together two of my best friends who were with me for that experience and had them…
On being waterproof, geeking out on hymns, and trying to relate to people with no memory of 9/11 (vol. xxviii, no. 9)
Dear Family, Riding my bike to work in the rain multiple times this week brought to mind a cherished childhood memory that I sometimes wonder whether my mother remembers the same way I do. The distance from my childhood home in Moorestown, New Jersey, to the middle and high school I attended (the two schools’…
On marital smugness, Hawaiian vocabulary, and a panic attack at 8,000 feet (vol. xxviii, no. 8)
Note: For the latest from Sophie (including her rhapsodic musings about Riga, her harrowing journey from Latvia to Utah to Alaska and then back to Utah, and her always-exciting adventures working at the BYU Bindery, read here. For an account of Ari’s summer as a counselor at Science Camp and Adventure Camp and dealing with…
Sophie’s August: When She Flew, and Flew Some More
Dear Family, It’s finally the end of the summer, and I think this has probably been the most exciting summer of my entire life. There’s probably no need to read another letter after this one, honestly. But I’d appreciate it if you did anyway. The month started off in Latvia, where I completed the last…