Happy people don’t have the best of everything, they make the best of everything!

Above is a picture of two out of the three exceedingly beautiful Kordesh women. On the left is my friend, Barb, and she’s pictured here with her daughter Kristen. I met Barb and her husband Steve a few years ago through CYO sports at St. Louis de Montfort Catholic Church in Fishers, where their son Matthew signed up to play a little basketball. He ended up on Zach’s team, and Tom was his coach.

As a parent to three boys who attended school from Pre-K through 8th grade at a Catholic elementary school, I quickly came to admire the “non-school” families who not only signed their children up to play CYO sports at their parish, but who decided to dive completely in to a group already very well-acquainted with one another. It’s hard to be the “outsider”. Jumping right in was definitely what the Kordesh family chose to do, and I hope they experienced a warm welcome! So many of us immediately enjoyed Barb, Steve and Matthew. What I love about Barb is that she keeps smiling, no matter what life brings, and she was always up for whatever shenanigans we were undertaking. If we had a pizza party, there they were. If we decided to organize a Christmas toy drive for a needy family, Barb always said “count us in”, willing to do what she could.

Her sarcastic good humor, competitive fire, and positivity are what stand out most for me about Barb over the course of time. She’s interested and engaging, articulate and kind. She’s the mother to three: Kristen, Katie and Matthew. Those are three incredibly blessed young people to have such an energetic and loving mama! I ran into Barb a few weeks ago when her Matthew and our Zach played on opposing teams for a high school tennis match. Matthew and his Fishers Tigers were much too much for the Guerin Catholic tennis boys that day, but it was so wonderful to have a few moments to catch up with Barb and hear the latest and greatest. As always, her warmth and bright smile made my day!

Barb, I am long overdue to share with you how much I truly enjoyed our time together over the years while our youngest kiddos played hoops together. Your sunniness and awesome sense of humor never failed to make every interaction with you a positive experience. I chose the quote above as I attempt to honor you today because to me it speaks loudly about the quality of your character. Thank you for choosing happy and sprinkling it around! We’re all better for knowing you, and the whole darn world would be too if we follow your lead!