Love in a Suitcase

By Tom Schwendler

Fasten Your Seatbelt. It's Going to Be a Bumpy Ride.

 

What happened when Rev. Tom Schwendler found a well-worn suitcase, holding his late aunt and uncle's love letters? He found the best marriage advice he'd ever read. 

 

From planning a wedding to handling in-laws to navigating the inevit

• Language: English
• Publisher: REV. TOM SCHWENDLER
• Release date: May 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781736813010

Tom Schwendler

Rev. Tom Schwendler has dedicated the second half of his life to officiating weddings and counseling couples. A graduate of the NYC-based All Faiths Seminary International, Tom was ordained an interfaith minister in 2017. He designs and produces customized wedding ceremonies across New York State leveraging his experience in orchestrating corporate webcasts and other events as a corporate communications professional for more than 30 years. He speaks from experience having been happily married for 34 years.

Book preview

A Thank You Note

Thanks to my wife and CFO on this project,

Rosemary, for letting me use our 2021 Stimulus

Check and more on this project. Grateful to

fellow Marquette alums Kate and Sarah Klise

for sharing their book expertise. And, thanks

to our ‘street team’ - Kathy M, Matthew Y

and others - for their feedback. Lastly,

thanks to my aunt and uncle for

sharing their love and wisdom.

Table of Contents

A Thank You Note

Foreword

Chapter 1 Communication Practices

Chapter 2 Conversations: 3 Fs – Finances, Faith, Family

Chapter 3 Navigating the Relationship

Chapter 4 Case Closed – Final Thoughts

Some Writing Assignments

About Anne

About Bill

Anne’s Affirmations

Foreword

(Actually, a look backward)

In 2020, a global pandemic exposed our interconnectedness and, in some cases, brought families and friends closer together. The virus drove us to be virtual with family gatherings taking place online, while face-to-face greetings were replaced by a phone call, text or email.

I became better connected to my aunt and uncle during this time even though they had been dead for more than a decade.

We reunited in my basement where I had retreated out of the boredom of self-isolation to take on the long procrastinated job of cleaning out the accumulation of clutter.

Lurking around the green ping-pong table, alongside a stack of books on a shelf outlining the perimeter of the basement floor, and ignoring the mounds of knickknacks and pictures and cardboard boxes, I zeroed in on an old brown suitcase.

I knew it was there waiting for me since I snatched it from my uncle’s apartment after he died in 2013. I knew there were love letters inside, and I didn’t have the heart to trash them. I guess my uncle felt the same