Everyday Matters: A Love Story

Some very funny stories offset by tears at the end. I know some of the characters so it made for an even better read. Highly recommned this for anyone with parents of the same generation. I gave the book to several people and they all passed it on as well.

Unbiased as I am, I want all to know that Everyday Matters is a charming, humorous, highly readable biography. It tells tales of growing up in America in the 1920s, college in the 1930s, work in the 1940s, family in the 1950s and 1960s, and further adventures in the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. You'll laugh, and you'll be touched. And Nardi Reeder Campion tells the truth, mainly -- with a few strechers.

I have known of Nardi Campion for many years. I have read her articles in our local paper for those same years. I was a head nurse on the patient care unit where one of her relatives was a patient. She is a graduate of Wellesley College, my daughter graduated from Wellesley in 1999. We have much in common, although we have never met. The most important of which is that we appreciate our lives and love our families. Nardi Campion is a writer, a wonderfully magnanimous writer. She tells it like it is and admits she may not remember it 100%, but almost :-) This new book, "Everyday Matters, a Love Story" fills in the gaps of much that we didn't know about Nardi Campion and her life and loves. She is an amazing woman, married to the same man for 59 years, mother of 5 children, an author, a scholar and beloved wife. She tells of her life as a child, her mother and father. Her father was an Army man who made the Army his life, and the family moved many times in many years. But they were happy and well educated and well loved. There was sibling rivalry even though Nardi's mother denied this fact. Nardi and her older sister Julia loved each other, but there always was that competition. Finally acknowledged at the time of Julia's death. Nardi went to Wellesley College where she blossomed and where she met her beloved Tom, who went to Harvard. They both felt the attraction and married a few years later. Over time, five children were born; they moved nine times and had many hilarious stories to tell. Nardi became a writer and eventually wrote nine books. They finally settled down in Hanover, NH home of Dartmouth College, where Tom had a job as fundraiser. They loved their life, their children and grandchildren, friends and all. Eventually Nardi and Tom decided to give up their home and move to a retirement home. Soon after Tom grew ill and faded away. His Memorial service was one to be admired. Scottish bagpipers, poems and remembrances by all. Nardi has gone on to many journeys, some fun, some not so fun but learning experiences. She continues to write her article for the local paper and now she has this wonderful book. Her life as it unfolded, and what a life. Highly recommended. prisrob