About Our Family

We are a “blended” family of two parents and six children – three still living at home.  Like most families, we feel very busy. John works full-time for Pax Christi, a Catholic human rights organization.  I (Kelli) have been occupied for the last two-plus years as a caregiver for Ben (19), who has just finished up a long, long course of chemotherapy for leukemia. Prior to that (almost three years ago), I worked for Florida Organic Growers' food secuity program.  In 2000, John and I were among a small group of folks who founded the Gainesville Catholic Worker and we are very involved with its doings. Our other two children living at home, Johnny (12) and Grace (10), are in middle and elementary school respectively, perched right at the brink of teenagerdom. The three living away - Megan (27, Ocala), Anna (25, NYC), and Joe (22,  college in Tennessee), seem to appreciate Gainesville life even more the further away they are. It's been good for us to see "home" through their eyes.

For years, we have been inspired by the idea of “being local.”  Partly because we just love this place.  Our roots run deep here and we want to honor and protect it.  But also because we can’t imagine going on like this - as a family, as a community, as a country, or as a planet.  We want to slow down, work and play together more as a family, and free ourselves to reach out  more to our neighbors - especially those in need.  We'd like to enjoy and appreciate more North Central Florida's natural beauty as well as the beauty of the various human and cultural aspects of this particular place. We hope to see more of our resources go toward supporting the people we know and who care about this place as much as we do.  And we want to become more aware of the people and places other than our own that our actions affect. We want that impact to be a more benign one. And with global warming and peak oil looming, we are feeling a little urgent about changing our ways  - for our sake, for our neighbors near and far, and for the good of the planet in general.

We’re thinking this is going to be a pretty big challenge for us. Over the years, we’ve given more thought than effort to being local – enjoying the ambience and delicious food at the farmers market or the local grocery but supplementing heavily with just about whatever we wanted whenever we wanted it… from wherever we had to go to get it.  We want to do better.  And we want to examine other aspects of our lives besides food - what we wear, how we entertain ourselves, how we get to where we're going (gasoline isn't a local product...) and whatever else comes to mind. One thing we know for sure: we have a lot to learn.

We hope you'll help us by sharing your own experiences, insights, thoughts and questions about being local.  It's good to have company.

Comments

[camila]

Hi Kelli! Thanks for all the insights! Matthew and I over the last 3 or 4 months have been considering how we will "live more simply so others can simply live". In part it has been because of our JustFaith (www.justfaith.org) gatherings and readings and in part because of what we learned while the the Gainesville Catholic Worker. This blog seems to fit just perfectly with where we are at right now--God does work in mysterious ways! Thanks!!

[Cathy Zokovtch]

Kelli, This is great! I really like the realistic view of: some changes, over time. My experience has been to make massive changes quickly, only to find it overwelming and soon left by the wayside. hence that Phrase " the road to hell is paved with good intentions!!" So we have learned that small changes have been much more successful for us and more likely to become a permanent change that leaves us eager to do more. Our changes are very small compared to the wonderful changes your family is making to change the world. Your blog is an inspiration filled with helpful information especially ways to stop the destruction of our environment. Thank you.
In Sarasota they had a bartering center that I am going to check out to see if there is locally supported items. We are still guilty of chain store buying but have made a bigger effort to support locally owned businesses. Thanks again for your blog.

[Kay Pfeiffer]

Hi kelli,
I am a Pax Christi member from MA.
I have met your husband at several meetings. He is a nice person and a very hard worker.It sounds a if you are too.
I have never been involved in Blog before and find the content
of yours very interesting. Thank you! I probaly will not respond very often but keep up the good work.
In peace,
Kay Pfeiffer

[Susan Hedge]

Wonderful! Thank you for your insight. I am with you in the desire to live a spiritually sustainable life.