https://www.thoreauitout.com/newsletters daily 0.75 2025-05-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/7b0e9b94-40d2-45b8-98c0-d36dc9cc99d6/StephMiles.jpg.jpg https://www.thoreauitout.com/newsletters/newsletter13-783tj-ryjg2-n4hw8 monthly 0.5 2025-05-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/1747006685148-HA3LL55DAWYPY0Y0SOXI/F69F53D7-7AE4-4CA6-91B2-EDF39A33A0E7.JPG Newsletters - Miles and miles - Make it stand out August 12, 2023. Photo courtesy Aimee Wilson-McDonnell. https://www.thoreauitout.com/newsletters/newsletter13-783tj-ryjg2 monthly 0.5 2025-05-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/7fbf8861-8669-4778-8b50-d061ed9a3a32/IMG_9033.jpg Newsletters - Patsy and Frank - Make it stand out Bonus pic of my dad just because he looks Sinatra-level cool. Circa 1965. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/1eb2918c-5787-4966-a04c-b3689401bfd5/IMG_8661+%281%29.jpg Newsletters - Patsy and Frank - Make it stand out My dad, circa 1962, with “This is Sinatra!” album seen in background. https://www.thoreauitout.com/newsletters/newsletter13-p7fnc monthly 0.5 2025-04-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/0ea9046b-47c9-42ec-972c-bb4361f2f911/IMG_8481.jpg Newsletters - Not all angels drive El Caminos - Make it stand out I took this pic after the tour of the house concluded and we sat down to chat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/f04e5eea-4e25-4c0a-9a42-70dd32f658bc/Jimmy+texts.jpg Newsletters - Not all angels drive El Caminos - Make it stand out Snippets of the first text exchange with Jimmy from May 3, 2020. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/823062ea-6425-4af1-a801-8ee6ec7925e3/redtruck.jpg Newsletters - Not all angels drive El Caminos - Make it stand out The framed photo I see every day of me and my dad from our first visit. Jimmy’s red truck seen in background. https://www.thoreauitout.com/newsletters/newsletter13-783tj monthly 0.5 2025-04-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/c199eb54-c38f-4427-89d6-fd46c3143cd2/IMG_6043.jpg Newsletters - Happy birthday, Jimmy - Make it stand out The very best boy, Miles Davis. https://www.thoreauitout.com/newsletters/newsletter13 monthly 0.5 2025-04-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/b091b559-cc1c-49c7-acd3-35208643b140/IMG_4309.jpg Newsletters - The grand tour - Make it stand out I took this pic after the tour of the house concluded and we sat down to chat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/8f271f6a-1379-4d80-a878-5d84a226b0bd/dad+art.png Newsletters - The grand tour - Make it stand out These are the two prints my dad had hanging on his walls. The Sinatra ad now hangs near my front door, just as it did near his. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/35a0563e-fc75-4517-bd81-ca463d6f5ab4/Steph+D.png Newsletters - The grand tour - Make it stand out Left photo: selfie while sitting on my dad’s couch, with the D hanging visibly in the background. Photo taken during my weeklong visit for our first and only Father’s Day together, June 2020. Right photo: a photo I took just now of one of my shelves. The D is and will forever be a focal point in my home. At the bottom, you can see the twin ‘55 Chevy pickups. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/978ea0cb-2e04-43b2-b224-a2dac6e6c107/Drak+bros.jpg Newsletters - The grand tour - Make it stand out From left to right: George, Joe, Bobby. This is the photo he had prominently displayed on his mirror. I took this picture of it after he handed it to me, not knowing he was going to insist I keep it. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/b300a415-3ba6-4041-ac43-6d1766566927/Dad+D.png Newsletters - The grand tour - Make it stand out The Wooden “D”…two examples of it hanging in my dad’s homes. Both pics circa mid-late 70’s. These are also prime examples of why we should keep out-of-focus or poorly lit images. You never know how meaningful they’ll be to someone, someday. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/ed988f4b-528d-4a2a-b454-3d943dfa4f30/Dad+car+shelf.jpg Newsletters - The grand tour - Make it stand out My dad’s bookshelf of model cars. I took this pic during the grand tour, May 8, 2020. https://www.thoreauitout.com/newsletters/newsletter12 monthly 0.5 2025-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/0b4992e9-05eb-4809-a05e-59f58a7bcb5d/bro+sis+dad+xmas.jpg Newsletters - Here we go, Steelers! - Make it stand out Christmas 1984. My brother, Dwaine; my sister, Leslie; and their stepdad Bobby, AKA, my birth father. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/2ec651e8-3591-41c8-a403-565182bcf9f9/steph+and+bro.jpg Newsletters - Here we go, Steelers! - Make it stand out Nov 1, 2020, four days after my dad passed. I spent the morning crying and watching the Steelers win with my brother. The shirt I’m wearing belonged to my dad, and I’m wearing his gold chain. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/a5e4a38c-2500-40f6-a20a-bfa409105d52/bro+and+ellie.jpg Newsletters - Here we go, Steelers! - Make it stand out Dwaine with our niece Ellie, our sister Leslie and her husband Randal’s daughter, waving that Terrible Towel. Circa 2017. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/04027ce2-ef8d-4ab5-99db-708e70941370/dan+and+joe.jpg Newsletters - Here we go, Steelers! - Make it stand out Christmas 2022. My nephews Joseph and Daniel, Dwaine and his wife Lisa’s sons. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/a5e779b5-ab46-4ed6-9120-22953769e968/family+portrait.jpg Newsletters - Here we go, Steelers! - Make it stand out From left to right: my brother, Dwaine; my mom, Denise; my dad/their stepdad, Bobby; my sister, Leslie. Circa 1983. https://www.thoreauitout.com/newsletters/newsletter11 monthly 0.5 2025-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/218ab86e-97ef-429a-bc04-b1e504e43268/IMG_7917.jpg Newsletters - Book update! - Make it stand out Little me on my 4th birthday, 1989. Photo courtesy Heather Beecher. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/6405c78d-a5aa-411a-9102-ddd871dd2773/IMG_0921.JPG Newsletters - Book update! - Make it stand out My parents on their honeymoon, circa 1981. https://www.thoreauitout.com/newsletters/newsletter10 monthly 0.5 2025-04-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/c854b9b5-2862-42bf-9a21-70dbb2e19c3b/IMG_5859.jpg Newsletters - Jackpot - Make it stand out A screenshot taken a few hours after posting to DNA Detectives, with my friend who’d also found her birth dad through Ancestry DNA. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/1028888e-1e28-49a5-a2e2-c0af59c7a0f0/IMG_5630.jpg Newsletters - Jackpot - Make it stand out This is a screenshot I took on June 19th 2020, approximately four hours after I posted to the group. It had already received over 1.7k reactions, and hundreds of comments. https://www.thoreauitout.com/newsletters/newsletter9 monthly 0.5 2025-03-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/f395c094-0a08-4f47-8b36-a0e320ffff45/IMG_8222.jpg Newsletters - Extremely Extra Special - Make it stand out April 24, 2022. A photo I snapped out of the car window of a mural in Trafford, while Denise and Red gave me a tour of the city. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/13d371ae-229e-4e6b-9113-ff1b75715458/IMG_5834.jpg Newsletters - Extremely Extra Special - Make it stand out From left to right: Floyd (Red), Bob (my dad), my uncle George, and my uncle Joe. This photo was taken in my dad’s house. You can see some of my dad’s pool trophies in the background. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/38267731-a8f5-4480-81f0-3d6126a60cc9/IMG_8217.jpg Newsletters - Extremely Extra Special - Make it stand out April 24, 2022. The house. That’s Denise on her way to ask the residents if we could take a closer look. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/8218f0bc-bfd0-4f0f-ae0c-8ec3a466b72e/IMG_3204.jpg Newsletters - Extremely Extra Special - Make it stand out After the celebration dinner, Eleanor took a photo of me with the runner up, Allison Fisher (center) and the champion, Kelly Fisher (right). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/6ed9a523-7c59-41be-a35c-b45b6057c4c9/IMG_5937.jpg Newsletters - Extremely Extra Special - Make it stand out The Drakulic boys in the front yard of The House. If you can’t tell by his face, my dad is the one holding the dog on the left. Uncle Joe on the far right, and uncle George in the middle. Circa 1948. https://www.thoreauitout.com/newsletters/newsletter8 monthly 0.5 2025-03-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/4a6c7bd7-4d2d-4d44-b546-013f12d23b5f/IMG_5685.jpg Newsletters - Cemetery road dust - Make it stand out Red & Denise. I took a picture of these two prints side by side. These prints were in a collection of photos I got from my uncle Joe, about two years prior to meeting them in person. I estimate these pics were taken in the 90’s, based on the colors of Red’s shirt. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/64e2d2d5-3fd4-4d5e-bd40-ced28228c0f9/IMG_5683.jpg Newsletters - Cemetery road dust - Make it stand out Another picture of a picture from my uncle Joe’s collection. This is my grandpa, Joe Sr., with Floyd, affectionately called Red. I estimate this was taken in the mid-60’s. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/d83e051f-41f5-45f6-b7f9-be7b843494c8/IMG_8202.jpg Newsletters - Cemetery road dust - Make it stand out Photo taken April 23, 2022, 4:06pm, with 54 minutes to spare. I was never one for visiting cemeteries before this. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/d4d59fe2-606b-480c-9cbd-58afa6482c7b/IMG_8201.jpg Newsletters - Cemetery road dust - Make it stand out My view from my grandparents’ headstone (seen bottom right). The statue of The Lovers is seen up ahead. To the left of the statue, my white rental car is parked on the road. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/32fcf5ac-7096-42bc-8cd0-834d58d9304d/IMG_5684.jpg Newsletters - Cemetery road dust - Make it stand out From left to right: Red, my grandma Dorothy holding her little black dog, and my dad. Again, I estimate this to be from the mid-60’s. https://www.thoreauitout.com/newsletters/newsletter7 monthly 0.5 2025-02-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/76209385-3564-4ee3-a445-89eb2b589a4f/unnamed.jpg Newsletters - When the silver linings turn to gold - Make it stand out Steph, El and Em in the Philadelphia Convention Center parking lot our first morning there, April 21, 2022. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/20058ba6-4d35-4e67-b326-240230e4d595/unnamed+%281%29.jpg Newsletters - When the silver linings turn to gold - Make it stand out From left to right: Em, Steph, El, after we won a team event in Bellingham, WA, November 3, 2019. https://www.thoreauitout.com/newsletters/newsletter6 monthly 0.5 2025-02-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/05d9a639-c6b1-47ca-8a21-96a6456444ea/IMG_4145+%281%29.jpg Newsletters - The joy of playing pool - Make it stand out A scan from my dad’s class of 1955 senior yearbook photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/3b6350c5-772c-42c7-bf27-44c657790b5e/03+stephanie+drakulic+2023-04-29_6223-fbcover.JPG Newsletters - The joy of playing pool - Make it stand out Pic courtesy Sandro Menzel, 2023. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/13906210-5229-40f9-bcb0-084d1267a9cb/IMG_3734.jpg Newsletters - The joy of playing pool - Make it stand out Our birthdays are one day apart, and we were able to celebrate together once, in 2020, about a month before he passed. My uncle Joe and aunt Jackie had this cake made for us as a surprise. Best birthday cake ever! https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/6cc3551e-d869-45bc-a45d-005718d2b275/IMG_5886.jpg Newsletters - The joy of playing pool - Make it stand out From left to right, my dad Bobby, my uncle Joe, my uncle George, and my grandfather, Joe Sr., playing pool at my dad’s house, circa mid-70's. https://www.thoreauitout.com/newsletters/newsletter5 monthly 0.5 2025-02-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/ec0938cf-df50-438f-81f9-f1311763a50c/IMG_9092.jpg Newsletters - It’s gettin’ weird - Make it stand out Ralphie the puppy and my dad, circa…I actually don’t know! I’d guess late 70’s? https://www.thoreauitout.com/newsletters/newsletter4 monthly 0.5 2025-02-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/edbbaa44-0cd0-486c-9c17-414c66e6e8e7/IMG_5938.jpg Newsletters - Who needs balance? - Make it stand out Bob at work, circa 1965. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/966e4b02-f30d-4962-b0e9-8aef4ba51910/IMG_6957.jpg Newsletters - Who needs balance? - Make it stand out Little Bobby, circa 1939. https://www.thoreauitout.com/newsletters/newsletter3 monthly 0.5 2025-02-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/4dc8f851-c833-47ed-89d6-34db8377e229/what+could+have+been.png Newsletters - The gift of grief - Make it stand out Bittersweet peek at what could have been. Bobby, circa 1982. Steph, circa 1991. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/0679662f-fec7-4598-9825-2b734f16288c/father+and+daughter.png Newsletters - The gift of grief - Make it stand out May 12, 2020, four days after we met in person. https://www.thoreauitout.com/newsletters/newsletter2 monthly 0.5 2025-02-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/ae3359e9-7ef0-4689-b755-00c1b3b32694/firstcorrespondence_george.png Newsletters - A love story - Make it stand out He called himself “Surprised Uncle George” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/20c4db46-d634-4b36-affb-67d803893cd2/firstcorrespondence_joe.png Newsletters - A love story - Make it stand out He “loved me already” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/0454e0d7-ec9b-44e0-bf1a-3ec192e95f19/firstcorrespondence_dad.png Newsletters - A love story - Make it stand out He called me “Honey” https://www.thoreauitout.com/newsletters/newsletter1 monthly 0.5 2025-02-19 https://www.thoreauitout.com/walden daily 1.0 2025-02-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/ba203aa7-e136-4ad4-9102-a6f1f03154d1/StephandMiles.JPG https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/677831a1e208470c0ad1c5d0/3ce25046-0c33-46b5-b898-eea751ad4973/Logo+2.png