Holiday Letter 2008

CHANGE -- 2008 was assigned a theme. It got us wondering what changed in our lives.

After 45 years of marriage, our refrain and rhythms seem to be predictable. If anything stood out, it was continuing to put a major emphasis on our family by making more effort to connect with its extensions.

In June we traveled to Iowa drawn there by a family tragedy. Sharon’s brother, Larry has five sons, and the youngest, Phillip (age 21), lost his life in a construction accident. It was very comforting to be with so many of Phil’s relatives and friends—over 150 came to his memorial.

In July our family week in San Diego at the beach was an occasion for the grandgirls to learn to surf. Both got up with less than an hour of instruction. Most Arizona kids learn to surf in hopes that when the Big One hits California, AZ will have its own beach. Wouldn’t that be nice for a CHANGE!

In August Lauren successfully transitioned from Dobson Montessori where she started pre-school to 7th grade in a charter school for academically superior students. Her CHANGE was getting used to wearing a uniform and changing classrooms. She’s been on the honor roll all fall and is excelling in Math. She was invited to be on the junior team at Gold Medal Gymnastics.

Natalie is a 2nd grader with the required missing two front teeth. She loves to read—her favorite stories are in a series called My Weird School. Another favorite activity is beating challengers in the game called LIFE, and she especially enjoys winning when she plays UNO with Sharon. Natalie is a gymnast. Her CHANGE was to give up dance lessons to learn routines to become a cheerleader. Yes! 7 year old kids can go to classes to learn these skills. Makes us wonder how completive making a school team has become.

October found us back in Iowa for a family wedding. We used the opportunity to visit friends in Evanston and Bloomington/Normal Illinois. What a difference 35 years makes. Our little home in a Normal cornfield is now in a forest of mature landscaping—natural CHANGE. Our friends welcomed us warmly—they’ve been like family for 38 years.

For Thanksgiving we went to cold, sunny Wisconsin to visit Bill’s sister Jane and her family. Menomonie is a delightful small college town along the Red Cedar River. Bill taught his brother-in-law and niece how to play Craps—WI casinos had better watch out.

Tracy, Jim, Todd and Kim are experiencing the challenges of financial change in their businesses and jobs. The CHANGE we’d like for them is sanity brought back to our economy.

Oh, have we forgotten the medical changes? Ok, here’s the litany. Tracy had her right wrist fused and needs one for her left wrist plus some redo on her right. Bill had a nerve severed in his right wrist to relieve pain caused by the aging of a 50 year old injury site. He had both eyes dramatically improved by cataract surgery and is currently recuperating successfully from prostate cancer surgery—the DaVinci procedure. Sharon worked at rehabbing her right knee after fall 2007 meniscus surgery, and is back to moderate hiking.

Bill keeps busy helping Prescott plan for 2050 by managing several citizen visioning committees. He became a Citizen On Patrol volunteer officer—badge 24—this fall. He enjoys helping direct traffic at parades, rescuing stranded motorists, checking homes for residents who are away, relieving the sworn officers of collecting money at city offices and transferring evidence. He can give parking tickets, drives a city COP vehicle equipped with flashing lights and looks good in his uniform thanks to the South Beach diet! Helping direct traffic along the McCain motorcade route for his midnight visit to Prescott on the night before the election was fascinating for the many levels of secret service, police, and sheriff coordination needed.

Sharon got a chance to adapt (CHANGE) her Highlands Center for Natural History training as part of a group of docents who gave a group of visually impaired people an afternoon of nature activities. Used to learning about the world through touch, the visitors delighted in feeling animal skins and skulls and the different textures of plants and leaves.

Ever optimistic, we hope that CHANGE means a better economy and a more peaceful world. We hope that you and yours have a happy, healthy New Year—our good wishes for you NEVER CHANGE.

Sharon & Bill