Season's Greetings Christmas 2013
Well, you are now reading my last Christmas Letter while I am still in my 50s, with my 60th birthday coming due next June 11, 2014. (Please do not send me any gifts or presents. $Tens$ and $Twenties$ will do just fine. :-) ) When I turned 50 in 2004, I told my sister-in-law, Kay, that "I see my 50s as being my last good decade.” It would turn out that I am simply grateful, thank God, to even see the rest of my 50s with my near fatal heart attack at the age of 52. I have a feeling that next June I'll be asking ”the powers that be” for a ten year extension on “my last good decade."
Johnathan, Carissa, and Hunter (2 1/2 years old), in some ways, had a good year, but not without Carissa very sadly losing some very dear family members during the year. Carissa is still very busy working as an ultrasound technician at Swedish Medical Center near their home and continues to send me many photos of Hunter. Johnathan is just two college courses from his master's degree and looking to fill in as an adjunct instructor for finance, accounting, and econ courses next year. Johnathan said that since "Congress finally stopped messing with things," there may be a job opportunity for him at an ordinance shop, so he may have two jobs next year---much better to have two W-4's than none, he says. Hunter is growing like a weed and seems well-adjusted, and after considering the year that Johnathan and Carissa has had, that's a minor miracle in itself. Johnathan and Hunter have had a lot of fun getting to spend time together the past six months and getting to teach each other has been quite an experience. Johnathan says that the view from 2 1/2 feet is much different than his! I was able to see Hunter three times during this past year and he is truly an adorable little boy!
Holly and Dave started living together at the start of 2013 and are still going strong. Dave is now head chef at a French bistro called Petit Poulet and Holly still works for Bette Midler's organization and mainly focuses now on the events/parties as an assistant to their wedding coordinator. In spring and summer, Holly works with a dance studio in New Jersey and gives master jazz/musical theater classes. Later this summer and early fall she had completed two choreographic projects for plays which means teaching non-musical theater actors to learn dance choreography. Holly says that it was like pulling teeth, at times, but it was definitely a positive challenge! Holly also helps fill in for a New Jersey-based dance team when she is free and helps do promotions and she just got another choreography job for a one woman show. Holly is now going into the slower season at her job which allows more audition time (not that she isn’t too busy already). Holly came home in October to go to her 10 year high school class reunion and to see my mother (see below) and other family members. Lastly, Holly and Dave are planning their holiday vacation in January and heading to Mexico.
In late August, Mother had a serious viral infection in her throat and left ear that required several days in the hospital, followed by several weeks of care and physical therapy in an assisted care facility in Jefferson City. She then stayed at Alicia's for a few weeks before returning home to the farm in early November which we were all very thankful for. All of our family are very thankful for the many people who helped Mother during this difficult time and kept her in their thoughts and prayers. Mother's sisters, Jane and Ferne, made their annual trip to Missouri in September during Mother's illness (which was unfortunate/fortunate timing), but many of us were still able to enjoy visiting with my California aunts. My sisters, Angela and Alicia, my brother, Chris, Alicia's husband, Brian, Mother's "adopted" granddaughter, Emily, and neighbor, Mike Houston, helped my mother a great deal during this time. Please keep Mother in your thoughts and prayers.
For the first time in many years, I did not go to a Cardinals game, but they had very good season, falling two games short in the World Series against their 2004 World Series nemesis, the Boston Red Sox. But it was heartening to see perennial great Carlos Beltran participate in his first World Series (finally). This World Series caused a "bone of contention" between Holly and Dave as Dave is a lifelong Red Sox fan as someone had to win and someone had to lose. Congratulations are in order to Dave and his 2013 Red Sox championship team.
In August, several from my family attended the 95th birthday celebration of my mother's cousin, Elizabeth Evans, at a Shelbina church in which over 150 people attended. Elizabeth looked great and, as always, Elizabeth has a mind that is sharper than all of the rest of us!
In May, Hannibal experienced a violent wind storm causing 80% of the city to lose power, including my home for 53 long hours. Although this was brief compared to other power disruptions that one often hears in the news, I was very glad when my power came back on!
Healthwise, I am holding my own. I got a good report from my annual visit with my cardiologist and my leukemia is progressing slowly enough that my cancer doctor sees me every six months instead of every four, which is good news. (When my mother shared the sobering news about my leukemia diagnosis with one of her friends in 2009, her friend expressed concern for me when she asked my mother, "Well, what about Greg's energy level?!" After pausing for a bit, my mother told her friend, "I'm not sure that Greg has ever tested it," which gave me a good laugh when Mother shared this story with me.)
Sadly, the "In Memoriam" section of this year's letter is longer than usual. In February, one of my Doniphan co-workers, Harry Lovins, passed away. Harry was the kind of person who would give the shirt off of his back to anyone in need. Harry was a hard worker and brought MUCH humor to our unique Doniphan office. (One of my favorite "Harry" stories involves my son, Johnathan, when Johnathan was 4 years old in 1985 and alludes to Harry's oft-commented stature of being about 5' 6" tall which Harry always took very well. At an office Christmas party at Ralph Kelsick's home, I took Johnathan around to my co-workers and I would ask Johnathan, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" And Johnathan would always reply, "A 'Greg'." When a co-worker, Glenn Slayton, heard Johnathan say this, Glenn replied, "Well, Johnathan, why don't you want to grow up to be a 'Harry'? It won't take you near as long.") Also, when Mernell’s and my home was flooded thrice by the Current River between 1982-85, Harry and his children were always there to help move furniture and many things upstairs for safety. Our entire family was very saddened in May when my daughter-in-law, Carissa, lost her mother, Mari, who was known for her quick and funny wit and for also being a very loving mother and grandmother. When my father passed away in 2005, Mari came to Hannibal from her home in north central Illinois to visit with Carissa and Johnathan and while she was here, Mari kindly and sensitively listened to my sharing with her "the process of my discovery" in a paraphrased way, which I will always fondly remember. Sadly, Carissa also lost her grandmother soon after she lost her mother, so our hearts go out to Carissa after experiencing such a difficult year. In July, my best friend in Hannibal, Debbie, lost her mother, Martha, who I shared a few memorable conversations with and she will also be greatly missed. Also in July, my best friend and roommate in college, Dr. Thomas Zweifel, lost his mother, Ruth, who I always enjoyed visiting with. I know that she was a special mother as Tom's examples of discipline and principles in college were not lost on me later in my life.
My brother, Chris, joined my sister, Angela, and me in the "ranks of the retired" when he retired as a guidance counselor at Jefferson City High School, though Chris still stays very busy with his support activities of our military personnel stationed overseas and veterans closer to home that he and his students have been involved with since September 11, 2001. My oldest sister, Diane, moved from Springfield, MO to Corpus Christi, TX to join her husband, Mark, where he has been working for over a year and Diane, not surprisingly, was quickly able to find a job. Good luck to Diane and Mark in the Lone Star State!
In May, I observed the 50th anniversary of my discovering U.S. manned space flight (just before my 9th birthday) with the last one-manned Mercury flight (34 1/3 hours & 22 orbits) of Gordon Cooper on May 15-16, 1963, which began my intense interest in manned space flight and I spent the 1960s rooting for the U.S. to beat the Soviets to the moon. My great love for astronomy began one year earlier in 1962 at the age of 8, the direct result of my mother sending off for a world atlas (due to a free offer on the back of a sack of Gold Medal flour in conjunction with the 1962 Seattle World's Fair) and I nearly memorized the brief introductory pages about astronomy that is common to most world atlases.
Has it really been 50 years since JFK's assassination?! One of my few memories when my fourth grade class received that tragic news is a classmate, Vickie, tearfully telling me that she would have given her life for the president. (Can't say that I felt quite that selfless at that moment.) Ironically and coincidentally, just two days after that fateful day in Dallas, as best as I can reconstruct my childhood experiences, I first heard two versions of the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24 & Luke 21) read aloud, annually, in Catholic mass in the Shelbina Catholic Church on back-to-back Sundays during the 1960s (this first Sunday also being the 3rd birthday of my sister, Angela, on 11/24/63) which began my serious study of eschatology (the study of End Times prophecy) with my natural focus, of course, being on Christ's astronomy-related instructions to His apostles recorded in Luke 21:25a and Matthew 24:29-30a, which, unknowingly to me at the age of 9, laid the solid foundation for my second vocation in life beginning in 1989.
In recent years, I have tried to end my letter on a humorous note and this year's story always amuses me when I think about it. At the YMCA, a college senior named Brooke works at the front desk who is attractive, funny, and is intelligent beyond her years and, in September, Brooke became engaged to a fortunate young man. One day, Brooke and I were walking on adjacent treadmills and when I asked her what music she was listening to, Brooke told me it was the Eagles, which "goes back to my day". After Brooke told me that her father introduced her to the Eagles, I asked her how old her father was and she told me that he was 47. I cringed and told her, "Oh, gosh, I've got 11 years on your father." Brooke then stopped walking and leaned back against the armrest of her treadmill as I continued, "Well, one thing that you'll find out as you get older is that you still feel young on the inside. I admit that I enjoy visiting and chatting with younger women because it makes me feel younger." I then wistfully conceded to Brooke, "And I know that the day's going to come when that comes to an end. Probably before I turn age.....(*sigh*)...... 95." I then looked at Brooke out of the corner of my eye, smiling mischievously at her and slightly laughing under my breath. With a strong hint of sarcasm, Brooke replied, "Yeah, that's a really good estimate, Greg," leading me to having a good laugh.
I hope that you and your family have a prosperous 2014!
Greg
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