Friends,

I’m working on a book based on “Truths and Wonders.” Today, I’m happy to share Chapter 2. 

The book is a memoir in 50 letters addressed to my three daughters. Together, the letters trace my life from earliest childhood through my mid-fifties—and relay lessons I’ve learned from hard knocks, lucky breaks, and lots of books.

Chapter 1 covered the childhood and adolescence that shaped me. Chapter 2 reflects on the decade when I actually grew up. It covers ages 18 to 29—from life in a since-condemned college dorm to finding luck (and love) in a pottery shop in Florence, Italy, to first becoming a father, to standing up to give a eulogy on the hardest day of my life.

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. It was Ikenberry and Milwaukee’s Best. It was Shakespeare and hoisting petards. It was finding my “troth” and losing my mom. It still makes me laugh; it still makes me cry.

I went into this chapter a child. I came out of it a man—with much left to learn, no doubt, but a much clearer vision of life and death and the wonders that make it all worthwhile.

I hope you’ll read it and enjoy it. And I hope you’ll let me know what you think!

Best,
Steve

🔗 Download a PDF version of Chapter 2