21 Jun 2016 Editor’s Note July ’16: A special focus on family

501 LIFE is all about celebrating something that we all have in common, even though they are diverse and come in all sizes – family!

We recognize there are different types of families – those we are assigned at birth and those that we acquire as we move through life. I’m very blessed with a loving family through birth, marriage and adoption. In addition, I oftentimes refer to my “First National Bank Family,” those wonderful individuals I worked with years ago, as well as my “Soccer Family,” those parents and players that we shared special moments with at practices and games.

Donna Spears and I also refer to our 501 LIFE Family, made up of our talented team of designers, writers, photographers, advertisers, editorial board members and dedicated supporters. We are blessed and appreciate their support more than they will ever know.

In celebrating all things family-related, we thought this issue would offer a great opportunity to catch up with one of our 501 LIFE families – the Cangelosi Family!

Tanner has been a writer for 501 LIFE since we launched our magazine in 2008. Her monthly “Funky Frugal” articles are very popular.

Readers have also had a glimpse into her life as we have presented stories on her family. She and her loving husband Cory already had three children when they added triplets two years ago.

I can remember meeting her for the first time before 2008. She and Cory were newlyweds, living in a small house near the University of Central Arkansas. I was touched by her sweet spirit and amazed by her creativity. Today, I’m inspired as I watch that sweet spirit displayed in both Tanner and Cory as they raise a house full of children, ages 7 and younger.

With six small children, there is a lot of activity at the Cangelosi house but Cory and Tanner take it all in stride. They recognize what is important and have a wonderful perspective on life and family. They know their children will only be young once. They savor each day and don’t sweat the small stuff.

During the interview for this month’s cover story, Cory shared that it can be a challenge focusing on all the sweet moments in their lives with six children and spending less time worrying about work that needs to be done. “There’s always something to be cleaned or clothes that need to be put away or a diaper that needs to be changed or someone needs to be bathed or fed. It’s easy to just get caught up in the work and miss out on the joy of family and kids,” he said. “That’s just something you have to be intentional about – to stop, re-adjust your perspective and realize it’s OK that not everything is clean. We can just have a fun time.”

What great advice. Our hope is that you are enjoying the sweet moments of life with family and aren’t worrying about things that really aren’t that important.

Here’s to “Loving LIFE” and “Celebrating Family” in the 501!

Sonja J. Keith

Editor/Owner