2025 in Review

A Year of Family

We bought the Wyndham timeshare for two reasons – to force us to take time off and to have a means of hosting family to join us. This was our first year without the timeshare and we enjoyed MORE time with family than in most years combined!! It’s nice to spend time in luxury accommodations exploring beautiful places but there’s REAL value in sleeping on an air mattress in Sally’s spare room to enjoy life experiences together (like organizing her kitchen to boost her “Feng Shui” going into 2026).

2025 was a year of blessings and milestones. Rick met his great-granddaughter Claire over Easter in Jacksonville.

Rick made multiple trips to Laguna Beach to spend time with Sally — including a two-week visit in September and a trip to celebrate her 84th birthday and Thanksgiving and Anita visited her Daddy, helping with summer chores around the farm.

We also celebrated Grace’s graduation from the University of Chicago with a Masters degree in Precision Health, and gathered in Richmond for a party celebrating Andrew’s engagement to Rachel Rumana.

Kevin made it out to CA to celebrate Christmas with Sally, and we wrapped up the year with a trip to GA to celebrate with Anita’s Daddy.

Kevin joined us in Cincinnati in January, renting a cute 2BR home about 10 minutes away. Rick sees him a few times a week (sharing fries at 5 Guys or tortilla chips at their new favorite Mexican restaurant) and has been helping him navigate life on his own. The boys enjoyed a blistering hot day at the ballpark as the Reds lost to the Rockies and a real dustfest at a local cart racing track.

It wouldn’t be life if we didn’t experience some transitions, some more painful than others. Mia lost both her Step-Father Rick and her Gram (Rick’s ex-wife Cindy) while caring at times for her Gramma Gayle. Will finished up his internship in Richmond with plans to move to Sarasota to live with his girlfriend Ashley (not far from Andrew and Rachel in Miami), and Rick landed and completed a consulting gig for a new client that manufactures commercial greenhouses here in Cincinnati while continuing his projects with Fives in Cleveland.

Extended Family

Rick scratched his coaster itch in July with his fraternity brother Tom Robertson at Holiday World in Santa Claus, IN. The highlight: their best wooden coaster ride ever on The Voyage.

Rick also made another trip to ManCamp with almost 4,000 other campers. It did rain at camp this year, but nothing like the 2024 “Hurricamp” experience (thanks to hurricane Helene). Rick was so moved that he volunteered to help lead a group of men through the experience in 2026. Contact him if you (or a guy you know) would like to participate—learn more at mancamp.us.

No dive trip with Rick’s business partner Ben this year. Ben’s mom has been struggling with her health and we just couldn’t fit it in—but we’re looking forward to taking the Rodenfels up on an offer to join them in Panama City (Cheryl and Clint bought a boat and have offered to host a dive experience).

Rick has also spent a bunch of time with Claude.ai. He succumbed to the advertising while visiting Sally in September and has been using AI to re-write and enhance his PetMatchPro WordPress plugin to support the adoption of more rescue pets. Once he figured out how to work with an overzealous AI agent whose only goal is to be helpful (pretty much EVERY AI tool), he’s made tremendous strides modernizing the code. It’s safe to say: anyone coding without an AI agent will soon be looking for their own “free intern” (and yes… a paid account is required to get anything significant accomplished).

Family Affairs

• Sally’s staying active attending yoga classes 3 times a week at the Laguna Community Center, attending happy hours with her neighbor Jan and enjoying lunches and virtual happy hours with siblings.
• Anita continues her cat rescue activities, caring for as many as 9 additional foster kitties in our basement. Each kitty is at a different level of socialization. Some are completely trusting of humans, others need more socialization before they’re ready for their forever home, with others still learning to trust after months/years of surviving on their own outdoors. She’s patient, persistent and a blessing to those community cats she’s able to help.
• Rick discovered the local Amazon returns business, buying a power washer for almost nothing to clean virtually everything in sight.
• Mia and Eric bought their first house in Jacksonville, sharing a home with Mia’s grandparents Ron & Gayle. Mia also got a promotion at work, now managing others in the car finance space.
• Anna and Jacoby took Claire to Epcot, celebrated her first birthday at a large celebration with family and friends, with Anna enjoying being Claire’s Mom.
• Kevin has had a tumultuous few years and is remaining hopeful for 2026.
• Andrew’s enjoying his work from Miami (where Rachel attends Medical School) while caring for their new dog Mac and helping to plan their 2027 wedding. Take a look at their photo shoot at Vizcaya Gardens.
• After completing her degree, Grace moved to the west side of Chicago and is serving until she lands a role in Precision Health.
• Will’s working to get his driver’s license (he’s never needed one). Interesting fact, Kevin just got his Ohio Learners Permit (he was in the hospital after a fall on Thanksgiving when his VA license expired).
• Kendra enjoyed a visit to see Sally in November (still waiting for photos Kendra) and continues to work for a law practice.
• A.J.’s enjoying his new role as a maintenance technician for a high-rise apartment complex in Reston, VA and playing guitar.

Wishing you a wonderful New Year — and hoping 2026 brings more of the good stuff: time together, big moments, and the everyday little memories that add up faster than we think.

With All Our Love,

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