Author: Timothy Willis

Dear Family, About a year ago I bought a 50-pound bag of ice melt, emptied it into one of those giant white buckets from the bishops’ storehouse, and tucked it away in a seldom-trafficked corner of our basement, thinking it could very well last the rest of my life. I’ve probably used about half of…

[Note about the cover image above: That’s Grace conducting the January 16th forum at Southern Virginia University — not discussed in the letter, but go Grace!] Dear Family, The concluding speaker at church earlier this month began her remarks by reflecting briefly on some of the interesting places in the world where she had attended…

Dear Family, Crystal and I have now been on a cruise. We enjoyed it. Whatever complaints I may register in the forthcoming paragraphs about this month’s cruise, cruises in general, or the kinds of people who gravitate toward cruises, please keep this much in mind: we had a very nice time, and I’m glad we…

Dear Family, It has come to my attention that my monthly letters feature an inordinate amount of complaining, mostly about petty and trivial matters. Some of these complaints are sincere and heartfelt; others I play up for comic effect. I honestly couldn’t tell you how much of my whining falls into each category. But I’ve…

Dear Family, I sincerely wonder whether anyone, in the whole history of human civilization, has ever unironically uttered the following two phrases in succession: “That was a beautiful wedding. I just wish it could have gone on a little longer.” I can’t say I loved every minute of it, but every minute of the wedding…

Dear Family, I ran across the Susquehanna River twice this month, something I’ll never be able to do without thinking of Dad. Like probably untold millions of other Mid-Atlantic denizens, I have crossed the Susquehanna River countless times — usually in a car on I-95, but also dozens of times on trains, a handful of…

Dear Family: I picked up a pickleball paddle for the first time in my life at our family reunion at Oglebay earlier this month. Within about 30 seconds I felt like I more or less had the hang of it, and my brother Matt surmised that my tennis background would likely translate to my becoming…

Dear Family, At the end of 11 blissful days in North Idaho and Central Washington, where I don’t think it rained even once and the dew point hung out mostly in in the very comfortable mid-40s, Crystal and I were making our way to bag claim at Washington Dulles International Airport when I received a…

Dear Family, What felt like an unusually late end to the school year (brought about by a combination of excessive snow-related cancelations — some of these would more accurately be termed “snow-related deferrals” since they ultimately had to be made up for reasons no one understands other than it’s the law — and the fact…

Dear Family, I had just undergone a minor procedure at Adventist HealthCare White Oak Medical Center (a nearby hospital whose unwieldy name I can only assume was the brainchild of the same consulting firm that gave us “Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport”) and the post-op nurse asked me to rate my discomfort on a 10-point…