by Kristen Kucharski
NAPERVILLE FAMILY KEEPS CHRISTMAS TREE UP YEAR-ROUND TO PROMOTE KINDNESS & POSITIVITY
NAPERVILLE–Creative expressions come easy for the Hemmingway family who own Edit One, a production company that is led by Rich, an Emmy award winning video editor/creative director who worked at Harpo Productions for over 15 years. He is currently the Executive Producer of the reality show, “Rockstars Garage” and has produced many projects for local nonprofits including DanceON, Project Help and Hesed House.
Tracy also collaborates with Rich on various projects when she is not teaching digital media writing courses and moderating the student run television news, LUTN at Lewis University. She has also published two children’s’ books and is working on a third. Recently, she has started health coaching as well and loves helping others.
So, it should come as no surprise that their children Reilly (18), a Freshman at Dayton University studying Special Ed/Psychology who loves photography, art and volunteering with Best Buddies and Kate (11), a 6th grader at Crone Middle School and competitive dancer at Elevate Dance Experience, had the idea to keep their Christmas tree up year-round starting with Valentine’s Day. They love the lights and how cozy it makes the family room feel.
“It brought peace and joy during the pandemic,” Tracy says. “Changing the theme to hearts promotes kindness and positivity”.
Kate will oversee keeping it up throughout the changing seasons such as St. Patrick’s Day, Easter/Spring, Cinco de Mayo, Summer, 4th of July, Christmas in July, Back to School, Halloween, and Thanksgiving, along with the input from her other siblings Christina (32) who is Quality assurance / Food Safety manager and Jack (20) a junior at DePaul University studying film, and of course, Reilly.
The Hemmingways come from a huge family with more than 50 first cousins that remain extremely close. Their walls are covered with family pictures, both past and present that are daily reminders of their indescribable feelings of love and gratitude of the quality time they spend together through travels, family reunions, picnics, and daily life.
They live by The Golden Rule, “Treat others as you want to be treated” and extend their love through actions by volunteering with local organizations. They also attend Holy Spirit Catholic Church and Tracy has taught RE there for 12 years.
This month, the Valentine tree is a visual representation of how they live their daily lives. “Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truths,” 1 John 3:18.
Photos by Mike Catuara
