Stephen Rethmeier
I should probably have someone else write this, except it’s too late…I’ve already started. I guess that makes it a mini-autobiography, which makes me think of the word automatic. There’s nothing automatic about trying to describe how amazing you are in a modest way. It’s taken me about 15 minutes to get this far. I did write this and if you imagine Samuel Jackson reading it, it sounds pretty cool.
What I don’t really say in that semi-poetic version of my life is that I own a commercial real estate valuation company. I started it in 1995, and before that I worked for a couple of companies doing real property valuation. Valuation work suits my personality and I’ve always had a knack for solving complex problems with simple and clear solutions.
Before getting into valuation work I was a pastor. I like to tell people I was a pastor for a couple hours, but it was really for a couple years. I really hated it. Not the engaging-with-people part of being a pastor, but the job itself. The 9 to 5.
I went into ministry because I liked God and thought that by being a pastor it would put me that much closer to what He was doing. Turns out, God didn’t seem to be doing a whole lot during that 9 to 5. Instead we did paperwork and tried to come up with ideas for getting people to volunteer for crappy jobs.
Like wearing orange vests and directing traffic on Sunday mornings, or doing Sunday School for junior high kids. Plus, I wanted to make real money. Like maybe support my family.
So I left vocational ministry and focused on trying to be a good husband, father, employee, and eventually employer, instead. I have done life with the people and circumstances that fate and/or God gave me.
I’ve managed to stay married for over 35 years because Cindy (see below) is long-suffering and a saint. I continued to go to church for over 30 years because, well, maybe I’m long-suffering too.
A short time after I left ministry I read this in the bible: “[God] has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed.”
There are ancient stories of men and women who had personal encounters with the supernatural. After these experiences there lives were altered, and usually they would name the place where that encounter happened to commemorate the experience.
The day that I read “word that sustains the weary” was my personal encounter with the supernatural. I’d like to say that I named that time, that “place,” but I didn’t. What I can say is that my life has not been the same since.
My hope is that Life Sausage will be something filled with words, pictures, ideas, and inspirations that sustain the weary (whatever that looks like in the modern world). Fortunately this is a group effort…
The Team
This is the Life Sausage team. They inspire me to live generously; to have hope in outcomes; and to be brave in uncertainty. They are some of the most authentic and genuine people I know. They all have lives and internal values worth imitating. They are artists, business people, writers, theologians, innovators, environmental advocates, parents, grandparents, lovers of great food and wine. They are also way smarter and more talented than me, which is like saying something is way better than ice cream. They have been my secret weapons for doing life. They can be your weapons too.
Bobby Hartry
Bobby is the owner and creative force behind CatBeach Music. He is an Emmy Award-winning song writer, producer, and an oh-my-god-what-did-he-just-do amazing guitar player. For over a year I made it a point to accidentally touch him as many times as possible in the hope that his talent and anointing would wear off on me. I must have been touching him in all the wrong places because I still suck at guitar.
Bobby has produced over 40 albums for both major labels as well as indie artists. He is also a diverse songwriter who has worked with various writers and artists to create music for television and film, with over 350 songs finding placement on network and cable TV. Bobby’s songs have reached audiences around the world with critical acclaim, including 4 Emmy nominations. Bobby won his Emmy for Outstanding Original Song in 2012 with Dust, co-written with Ben West.
He will share his perspectives on music, creating, collaborative relationships (i.e., how to be someone people want to work with), and making normal life happen.
Cindy Rethmeier
Cindy is my wife and she’s awesome. I’m pretty sure she’s the only reason people would even spend time with me during the first 15 years of our marriage. Her kindness and loyalty quadruple trump the unsavory parts of my personality.
She is currently my 5th wife, though all my wives have lived in the same body. We’ve been married for over 3 decades, and she has grown, changed, and transcended more than anyone I know. She is deeper, richer, and more complex today than she was even a year ago. She is quick to laugh, forgets to be angry, and never holds a grudge. Some people marry up; I married into a different solar system.
She is a gifted song-writer with a talent for powerful simplicity. She has over 75 songs to her credit with many of them sung regularly on Sunday mornings around the world. She sings like an angel, but when I say that, I don’t just mean she sounds like a angel. I mean that when she sings, it’s as if an angel has entered the room and now everything is going to be okay.
She is a friend of birds and she’s Darryl the cat’s favorite person. We have more hummingbirds in our yard than the rest of the neighborhood combined. She is on a first-name basis with orioles, wrens, robins, and the occasional hawk. Her relationship with Darryl is like an older sister to a younger brother, except in this case, he is 10 and she is 13. It’s a source of daily amusement for me.
She is a tireless grandmother of seven, six of whom are boys. She loves them completely and creates songs for them to help them understand the world. They call her Bubba because they couldn’t pronounce Bella. Somehow, Bubba is better. She is not afraid and finds grace, peace, and beauty in everything. Sometimes I wish she was my grandma…
She will contribute to Life Sausage out of her role as a mother and grandmother; as a music director and worship leader for an innovative experiment in ancient liturgical practice (i.e., high church in a post-modern context); and as a lover of nature and beauty.
Jayson Belt
Jayson is the former front man and lead singer for The Red West. His most recent solo project, released on 2015 and called Poor Penmanship, was produced by Catbeach Music.
He sings, he dances (with his four children) and he loves his wife like a good man. He is a gifted student of life and can distill the essence of a situation or person in nanoseconds. His sarcasm and sense of humor are legendary–God help you if you are intentionally dimwitted. He is a social sniper, picking off the enemies and threats to intelligible discourse, good music, and vigorous living with deadly precision.
He laid down his music career for a real job so he could provide and care for his family. Good call. He has worked in Hollywood as a film editor for over a decade, working on American Idol, The Voice, America’s Got Talent, and So You Think You Can Dance. His Life Sausage contribution will be about things related to calling and serving the greater needs of those that life has given you.
Jennie Hartry
Jennie is Bobby Hartry’s lovely and talented wife. She’s the business behind the business, managing the day-to-day aspects of running CatBeach Music. Ever worked in the music business? Ever worked with artist-types? No? Well, it’s a little like running an old-school insane asylum–who needs their meds? Who needs a hug? Who needs shock treatment? Yeah, she’s tough, but she’s kind, and nobody works harder at helping other people to succeed. She is a compassionate visionary. She will share about life in the world of art-as-a-business, and about the challenges of balancing business and passion when they are the same.
Sam Rethmeier
Sam is my son and he was named after my favorite dog from when I was a kid. Actually, we didn’t name him after my favorite dog, because otherwise his name would have been Duchess. Still Sam was a good dog and there’s worse things to be called. Okay, none of that is true but since I did once have a dog named Sam, Sam has always believed it was true. So I guess you could say that one of the first helpful things this blog has done is clear that up.
Sam grew up in a home where food and wine were important. He learned that it’s one of the few things in life that can be effectively controlled and manipulated to an outcome and experience of near magical qualities. With a well-prepared meal and good wine, served with love and care, you can change a life. And in 2001, the trajectory of his life was forever altered when at 16 he had a taste of 1984 Opus One.
And now Sam is a Sommelier which means a lot of people want to have his life. And if you can’t pronounce Sommelier, then just go with “Somm” (like mom with an S). It’ll make you sound cool and slightly pretentious at the same time.
A hard day for him is when he’s had to taste more than 10 wines that most of us could never even afford to look at, let alone buy. To him, stress is when a guest says “surprise me with a nice red and my budget is $500.” He’s my son, so of course he’s good. I swear I’ve seen him listen to people describe the mood they are in or what they do for fun and then pour them a perfect wine.
I once spent lots of time studying and learning about wine. Not anymore. I’ve outsourced that to Sam and now only work 4 hours a week. Not really. But it sure is handy having a personal somm in the family. Maybe better if he’d become a doctor, but that’s a close call…
Sam is in the business of helping people enjoy life. And that enjoyment is facilitated by his knowledge of what makes a good wine good and by knowing that serving friends and guests is really about elevating them. He will talk about wine, about life, and about his observations of what makes a food experience transcendent. Oh, and he has a wonderful wife and three damn cute kids.