Oh the stories you’ll hear! This past Saturday they came to Deerfield IL from Madison, WI. My son, his wife and my grandchildren Merete and Aiden. My granddaughter Katie and her boyfriend Lance came up from Chicago. My lady friend, Felice, was there too The chatter over lunch and dinner was rich, lively and full…
The thing about Family Meetings is that if you make them a habit when children are young, they continue to be a priority as children age. There may be a different feel at different times of life, but that is the beauty and essence of knowing and growing in sync with one another. When Ariella…
At 80ish I wrote a chapter for a book, 80 Things to Do When you Turn 80. The chapter was titled “Life is an Adventure. In it I talked about meeting my wife Margaret and our long life together, and on writing a book and rebuilding my life after she passed. The theme for that…
Photo credit Teennick A friend’s daughter, Jennifer, found there were some topics that were perfect for the larger extended family, but also felt a need to better connect with her husband and two sons. Between work, business travel, school, and other activities, they often did not even have time to eat dinner together, let along…
By Jerry Witkovsky, author of The Grandest Love Striving to become more connected as a family doesn’t mean that everyone is obliged to see things the same way. For example, not all of my family members see a deliberate commitment to Teaching-and-Learning as being central to our family’s synergy. Says my daughter Ellen, herself a…
With Easter and Passover on the horizon, families may be gathering from afar, making it a perfect time to hold a family meeting. There are many excellent resources, online and at your public library, for conducting Family Meetings; and all can be adapted to fit your needs and circumstances. Here are three tips to get you…
The old adage says “if you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there?” You need a vision. If you have any doubt, watch any episode of Shark Tank where the “sharks” will ask, “tell me your vision,” and “now that you have your vision, what’s next, how will you…
In The Grandest Love: Inspiring the Grandparent-Grandchild Connection, I talk about the importance of three generation family meetings and to create a vision for a family. This includes sample quizzes and surveys that can help a family discern their common values in life. Our own family went through this process, and here’s what we came…
