I can remember so vividly that day of high school Relationships class, a senior elective class. It was 1992. My friend Jeff drove us in his newish car to Ron & Michele Stegman’s home in Indiana.
Mr. Stegman was our teacher, and a big focus of the course was a day-long retreat at the log-cabin and acreage he and his wife built with their own hands and many hands of help.
That’s the log-house above, painted by Michele.
It’s actually quite large — enough to comfortably sit all of us around their fireplace for conversation and storysharing. Ron told a story, Michele told a story, we did too, as those old log timbers listened, centuries old.
And then we ate lunch wherever we wished, took walks, napped under a tree, luxuriated in the freedom and hospitality to discover whatever life welled up for us to discover. My friend Andy a few others ate our packed lunches on a rock — a massive slab of limestone down by the creek. I can still remember the conversation today, at least some of it. When I taught high school Religion, it always came back to me…that when you provide space for students to discover together, often the conversation will circle back to the subject matter at hand. For Andy and me and those friends, we talked about our relationships.
Ron Stegman has impacted my life greatly. One reason I love a good story is probably because of him — at least he bolstered that story-curiosity.
I’m delighted Ron is sharing The Book of Life with the world and publishing it through VITALITY. As you can see through the link below, it’s been a labor of love for more than 50 years, and it led to his meeting and marrying Michele, their desire to live simply in a log-house in the country. That Book of Life led to Andy and me and friends sitting on that limestone rock, formed ages ago.
I hope you’ll check out The Book of Life and consider pre-ordering a copy: https://vitalitybuzz.org/shop/the-book-of-life/
We need 75 friends to pre-order to launch this book into the world. It’s a beautiful book weaving together stories Ron and Michele wrote, stories Ron collected from people, and a conversation between Ron and Michele about how they built their house where thousands upon thousands of people have rested and retreated and come to know a life that is beautiful in every way.
Brian Shircliff
PS Last call for Saturday’s Family Constellations workshop!
PPS Mark your calendars for our annual Winter Solstice Celebration…Sat, Dec 21 at 6:30p via Zoom. Our 14th year of loveliness led by Penny Costilla!
