Category: Family Roots

An Orphan Boy Unlocks What Baseball Can Teach Us About Hardships and Life

Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi once said, “If we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.” My dad, Andrew “Andy” Monteleone, whose favorite sport was America’s pastime, baseball, echoed Coach Lombardi’s words when he would say: “No one bats a thousand, but never stop trying.” My dad lived those words. And he inspired me—and many others—to…


Typewriter Magic: How Grandma’s Special Gift Inspired a Lifetime of Dreams

Can I tell you a story? It’s one with deep roots that reaches across several state lines, spans a couple generations, and connects the present with yesteryear as if there were no moments between the two. It begins with my maternal grandmother, Grandma Rushing. Grandma Rushing came to live in my home state of Louisiana…