The Luck We Carry is a collection of personal essays about love, loss, and the enduring presence of the people who shape us. Written over many years, the book traces life after the death of the author's husband, Ken, and the ways grief quietly weaves itself into identity, memory, and daily living.Rather than offering advice or prescriptive steps for grieving, The Luck We Carry bears witness to what it means to continue living after profound loss. These essays expl...

The Luck We Carry is a collection of deeply personal essays about love, loss, and the quiet, often unexpected ways life continues after grief.After losing his husband, Ron Stempkowski found himself navigating a world that looked familiar but felt fundamentally changed. These essays trace that terrain with honesty and restraint, exploring what it means to survive the worst thing that happens to you and still remain open to joy, humor, connection, and meaning.

Plot Twist: You’re a Journaler Now!A Playful Guide to Building a Journaling Habit with Your Pen, Your Pages, and Your SanityReady to finally start journaling—and actually stick with it?This fun and practical guide makes journaling simple, stress-free, and even a little addictive. Written in short, binge-worthy “episodes,” Plot Twist: You’re a Journaler Now! helps you turn blank pages into breakthroughs without the pressure to be pe...

Ron Stempkowski met his husband Ken on a cold Chicago night in a neighborhood bar—only to fall for him a second time, two months later, in the same bar. It was the kind of meet-cute that felt like the beginning of everything. Ten years in, it was.Then came the second cancer diagnosis. Then the wheelchair. Then a "soirée" instead of a funeral—because Ken, dying, still had notes on the guest list.The Luck We Carry moves through the full arc of that love story: the im...