Goodness Weekly 7.27.26
“Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.”
―L.M. Montgomery
WHAT’S GOOD
Pizza Pizza!
Great news—Scott's Pizza is now open on Wednesdays from 5 - 8:30 PM at Charis Park! Whether you're looking for a midweek meal or just a reason to get outside, come pull up a chair and enjoy a slice with your neighbors. Order in advance online here.
Family History
Amy Lynn Johnson, Communications Manager, Sunset Ridge Collective
Earlier this month, I took my almost 16-year-old daughter, Amelia, to Boston to celebrate her birthday a couple of weeks early.
Solo birthday trips aren’t always something I’ve done. Not long after my divorce, I started taking each of my kids on one-on-one birthday dates. Three of my four kids have birthdays within thirty days of each other—right in the middle of back-to-school season. Between birthday parties, school supplies, and uniforms, it all felt overwhelming. So instead of trying to do everything, I traded parties for time.
It turned out to be one of my favorite parenting decisions. I’ve gone paintballing with my boys, enjoyed spa days with my girls, and even returned to one of my childhood favorites, Golden Corral, for all-you-can-eat soft serve. When each child turned sixteen, those birthday dates expanded into birthday trips.
Boston was the last of those sixteenth-birthday adventures as my youngest daughter reaches that milestone. We chose it because of her love of history, and neither of us had ever been. Since the Boston area is home to three National Parks and numerous historic sites, I naturally packed our National Park passports like the nerd that I am.
When I tell people about our passports, they usually assume I mean the annual park pass that gets you through the entrance. But these are something much more delightful. They’re little spiral-bound books where you collect ink stamps from every National Park, monument, memorial, historic site, seashore, and battlefield you visit. Every stamp is unique, marking a specific place and the exact day you were there. On this trip alone, we collected more than a dozen new stamps, including several commemorating America’s 250th birthday. It’s a simple way of saying, “We were here.”
One of our favorite stops, though, wasn’t part of the National Park Service at all. It was the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, home to the largest unsolved art heist in history. Before our trip, I convinced Amelia to watch a documentary about the museum with me. She reluctantly agreed, but by the time we wandered through its galleries, she admitted it made the visit better. (I’ll happily take those mom points, thank you!)
The museum is unlike any I’ve visited. Rather than traditional galleries, Isabella Stewart Gardner arranged her collection as a series of deeply personal rooms, filled floor to ceiling with paintings, sculptures, furniture, and objects she’d collected throughout her life. Empty frames still hang where the stolen masterpieces once were, honoring both what was lost and the hope that one day they might return.
The courtyard at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
At the heart of it all is a breathtaking courtyard overflowing with lush plants, fountains, and Romanesque sculptures. Nearly every room opens toward this living center, filling the museum with light. My favorite space was the MacKnight Room, Isabella’s personal office, where her desk still sits among travel souvenirs, treasured objects, and striking purple watercolors by her friend Dodge MacKnight. The museum feels less like a collection of art, and more like an invitation into someone’s life.
Inside the MacKnight Room
As we walked through the rooms, I found myself thinking of the McNay Museum back home in San Antonio. Marion Koogler McNay was also an avid art collector who filled her home with art she loved. Although she hadn’t originally intended for it to become a museum, she eventually gifted her home and collection to the city, creating the first modern art museum in Texas. I felt that these two incredible patronesses of the arts would’ve been incredible friends—and was grateful for these incredible places that continue telling their stories long after their passing.
A couple of times during our trip, Amelia would casually say, “When we come back to Boston…”
Not if.
When.
I smiled, because I realized she was already weaving this trip into the story of her own life. It wasn’t simply a vacation anymore. It was becoming part of her own history.
A passport stamp marks that you visited a place. Museums preserve the stories of the people who came before us. But the most meaningful memories are the ones we create together—the conversations on long walks, the shared discoveries, the inside jokes that eventually become family lore.
These are the things we carry home with us. The stories we tell around the dinner table years later. The places we hope to return to someday.
That’s one of the quiet gifts of paying attention—not simply collecting moments (or souvenir magnets), but building a shared history with the people we love.
Coming Up…
Daily, NYX Yoga & Fitness
Daily, One Another Coffee
Wednesdays, 11 AM - 1:30 PM, Open Studio Painting
Wednesdays, Mission Compost Pick Up
Wednesdays-Sundays, Scott’s Pizza, Charis Park
Saturdays, 9 AM - 1 PM, Sunset Ridge Farmers Market, Charis Park
Sundays, Worship at 9 AM and 11 AM, Sunset Ridge Church
Mondays & Wednesdays, 6:30 - 7:30 PM, Garden Club, Charis Park, Community coming together to care for Charis Park. Welcome to all ages—come visit with neighbors while we tend to the gardens & clean our communal spaces.
Friday, July 31, 7 - 9:30 PM, Full Moon Friday, Charis Park
Saturday, August 8, 9 AM - 1 PM, Porc Slap Food Pop-Up, One Another Coffee
Friday, August 14, 5 - 9 PM, Parents’ Night Out, Sunset Ridge Church, Open to kids up to 11, Register here
Event Rentals - Interested in hosting your event at Charis Park or in our facilities? Please email rentals@sunset-ridge.org
Community Partners: For updated schedules and events please follow One Another Coffee, Sunset Ridge Farmers Market, NYX Wellness, Scott’s Pizza, Mission Compost, Sprouts School, Good Acres, and Community First Food Pantry.
