Today’s post is from Trisha Zarnikow. Trisha and her husband are lifelong friends of Cindy’s.
NYC Adventure
My husband Paul and I spent two weekends in NYC with Cindy and Andy, enjoying every minute. On this particular trip, Central Park was a must. A perfect summer day, good friends, the endless people watching offered in the park, all added up to the ideal NYC experience. Before long we found ourselves down by the boathouse, watching the row boats drifting across the lagoon.
Hi everyone,
This is Lis again, the eldest sibling. Andy had, from time to time, written about his years growing up. I’ll pick up a little on that thread. I’m sure others will have different, and likely more interesting, recollections, but here goes.
There is a 4 year age gap between Andy and me. As an adult, 4 years now seems like nothing. As a child, it was huge, especially when there are 4 other siblings contained within that gap.
Hi everyone,
This is Carrie, another Waukegan high school friend 😊. Well, you might be surprised to read that when I first met Andy, he barely said a word! He sat behind me in our sophomore year Geometry class and he was actually shy. I’m not sure when that changed but it did and once he started talking there was no stopping! In fact many times during our high school days in the 70’s when the gang was hanging in my family’s basement, you could find Andy upstairs chatting with my parents!
Hi Andy’s Blog Readers! I’m Maria - Andy’s youngest sister and I am today’s guest writer with a little ditty or two about Andy.
As the youngest child of eight and being five years younger than Andy (and Tom and Tim, of course), I was not very close to the triplets growing up. Five years is a huge difference in grade school. By the time I was in first grade, Andy was in Junior High.
Today’s post was written by Chris Morgan. Andy and Chris became friends in high school and remained friends throughout his life.
Hi Everyone-
My name is Chris Morgan. I’ve known Andy since freshman year of high school (1974). It’s hard to believe it’s been 52 years. Kind of crazy. I want to build on what our friend Bill Brolley shared in his recent post on Andy’s blog. I will always cherish the memories of our Waukegan High School days.
Today’s post is from Sandy Gervais, a former classmate of Cindy’s and long-time family friend.
Andy Snarski was a man who wore many hats. In fact, it makes me smile just thinking about it.
Ventures: A stand out memory, was after he left Mosiac. He and Cindy got together with some friends who had an organic farm, and Andy decided that would be his next adventure. Of course, he jumped in with both feet, tractor, rusty pickup and all!
Today’s post was written by Kathy Birkland, a college friend of Andy’s.
It was August of 1983, I was 19 years old and had just transferred to Northern Illinois University to begin my sophomore year. I didn’t know many people, and starting over felt overwhelming. My boyfriend at the time was Andy’s roommate, so that’s how I first met Andy. I still remember it so clearly— he greeted me with one of his giant “Andy hugs”, a huge smile and about a hundred questions because he genuinely wanted to know me.
Happy Masters Sunday everyone.
I hope all you golf fans are enjoying watching the Masters this weekend.
If Andy were here he’d be sitting on the couch with a can of Virginia peanuts and watching the Masters. And later in the afternoon he’d crack open an IPA to go with the peanuts. He rarely watched TV during the daytime hours, but he made an exception for the Masters.
In 2024 Andy won four tickets in the Masters lottery.
Many thanks to Robyn Drew for sharing the following story. Robyn is another of “the roommates” from NIU. In the photo below, Brad and Dave are in the famous golf cart and Andy and Jim are standing on the back.
“How lucky are we?” This is a recurring phrase said over and over by our Northern Illinois University friend group. Over the years, we realized just how lucky we truly were to find each other.
Cindy here. Many thanks to Tyanne, one of Andy’s college friends for sharing the following story. The college friends are known simply as “the roommates” but sometimes I refer to them as Andy’s College Army. Whatever we call them they are a very special group of people and FFL … friends for life.
Andy came into our lives during our sophomore year of college, and from the very beginning we just clicked.
Hello followers! I’m Rick Keffer, high school friend of Andy’s and a classmate since fifth or sixth grade.
One of the many things I loved about Andy was that he wasn’t afraid to step up and lend a hand. I can think of a lot of examples but one that stands out is our quest for tickets to see the Grateful Dead in the spring of 1977. For younger folks reading this, I need to explain how the concert ticket process worked back in the day.
Today’s post is from Anne Marie Beckwith, a friend of Cindy’s.
I have been friends with Cindy since our Motorola days and I knew back then she was not married. When we no longer worked together we kind of lost touch, as often happens.
One day quite a few years ago I saw her at the Jewel in Crystal Lake with a guy. I am thinking now this was early in her relationship with Andy because it was a long time ago.
Today’s post was written by our niece, Maddie Fox.
May 31st 2025 is a day that probably sticks out to a lot of readers, the day of Uncle Andy’s party at Illinois Beach Resort. That day will always live in my memory as two moments intertwined. On one hand, you have a day filled with celebration, and the other with quiet, life changing news that I wasn’t ready to share yet.
Today’s post is from Dave Moritzen, a high school friend of Cindy’s.
Good afternoon all,
My name is Dave Moritzen. I live, as Cindy and Andy would say, in the Frontier of North Central Wisconsin. Cindy and I met ‘back in the day’ when we were high school classmates in Crystal Lake. We knew of each other in high school but we weren’t what I call friends. After graduation, we both went our separate ways.
Hello friend, family, and followers! This is Alex writing to today about something that is very special to my heart: Space!
Today at 6:24pm EST is the launch of Artemis II mission, which is the first mission taking humans back towards the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. I wasn’t there for the Apollo missions, but I know that there might be a few of you out there that remember watching it live.
Today’s post is from Cindy’s sister, Barb.
Hello, and love to all of Andy’s Army!
Andy always took pride in the fact that he knew all the words to the Don McLean song ‘American Pie’. All 8 1/2 minutes of it.
Five years ago, at a dinner party, we put him to the test. Sure enough, he knew every single word! I captured a few minutes of him singing that night.
Happy Sunday, everyone. Cindy here.
Last Friday, March 27, was one month since Andy left us. In case you missed Nikki and Alex’s post from last Friday, here is an excerpt:
We’re still thinking about Dad every day. But we’re also still thinking about ALS. About what it’s taken.
So today, in a middle finger to ALS, the Andy’s Army marathon team is dedicating their runs to F ALS! Each runner is covering a route (or a loooong one) that spells out a letter emphasizing that statement and what it means for us to run the Chicago Marathon in October.
Today’s post is from Nikki and Alex
Today marks one month since our dad died.
One month feels like yesterday.
One month feels like years ago.
We had 18 months to prepare, but you’re never fully prepared.
We think about Dad every day. We share texts (Cindy, Nikki, Alex, and families) about the things we wish we could tell him, the problems he would have helped us through, the funny things he would have enjoyed, and the everyday moments we would have shared.
Many thanks to today’s guest blogger, Bill Brolley. Bill is a dear friend of the entire Snarski family.
Andy and I were best friends since high school, and our group was inseparable. We were so close that I could walk into his house without knocking and address his parents by their first names. A couple years, when my parents were away for Thanksgiving, Sally invited me to join their dinner, and I truly felt honored and like part of the family.
Today’s blog post is from Nikki:
Andy’s Army is $17,000 away from raising $100,000 in 2 years. Help us reach this incredible milestone.
After finding out Andy was diagnosed with ALS I found myself deep in the internet world of nonprofits, advocacy groups, foundations, medical pages, and research. And through that, I found the ALS United Chicago Marathon Team. Andy was a marathoner, a triathlete, and endurance athlete, an IRONMAN … and that spoke to me!