Volume XXXX Dec.
25, 2013
Christmas 2013
“True terror is to wake up one morning and
discover that your high school class is running the country.” Kurt Vonnegut
True terror may also be that you realize you have been
writing this letter for forty years. In
December, 1973, I wrote, “We’ve returned from our year in London and have been
spending the last few months going through the typical cultural re-entry shock
that goes with any foreign experience.”
This summer, returning from Finland, we went through that re-entry for the
umpteenth time. It still carries conflicting emotions. We are happy to return
to our own comfy cocoon in Monmouth, yet also chagrined that so many here in
this country still seem to believe that people in foreign lands could not
possibly have better health care,
education, or a better standard of living than an American. Don’t get me wrong. Needy is still needy wherever you are and by
any standard Americans, including us, have been blessed with an unmatched
fullness of life and liberty. On the other hand a recognition that the world
has caught up and in some cases passed us is a truth that can no longer be
denied.
Now before the soap box collapses, let it also be known that
1973 was the year I started my beard. I didn’t like it at first, but then it
grew on me. All together now, LARGE
GROAN!
On the family news front
son David and his wife Lotta continue to reside in Finland and dote on our only
granddaughter Frida. She is now walking and climbing in the best of De Young tradition.
To be honest, two sets of grandparents and a bunch of aunties on both sides are
doing some doting as well. Taking a look
at her can tell you why. 
We spent two weeks in
Helsinki this past summer and bonded sufficiently to enable Frida to recognize
us now during our Skype calls. Lotta plans to go back to work in February.
David has not been able to get a job yet, but the government is paying him to
study Finnish and he hopes to be able to compete better this coming year. It has not been easy but they are surviving,
prospering, and loving parenthood. 
We were also able to
spend time with our new in-laws, Jukka and Anna-Maija. While touring the studio
of a well known Finnish artist, Soile Yli Mayry, we sat for a picture of all of
us in front of one of her paintings. Just in case you can’t tell, the artist is
the lady in the red glasses and black tights.
STOP! Medical advice break: If you hear a ringing in your ears, don’t
answer it. Additional break to fill up
the page: Do you need something to liven up the conversation while checking out
at the grocery store? When the clerk
asks you, “Paper or plastic?”, just say, “It doesn’t matter, I’m bi-sacksual.”
Now on to the Brown household. Daughter Amy is continuing her teaching career while husband Todd is still working long hours as well.
But this year the parents will have to take second place to our oldest grandchild, TJ, who will be graduating from high school in May. His grade average has remained over a “B+” and he has been accepted into the Fire Safety program at Western Technical College in La Crosse, WI. While keeping up with his coursework, helping at the fire station, and a part time job at a day care center, he has also managed to study for and pass his national EMT certification exam. We are so proud of him!
Younger brother Mikel,
11, continues to do well in school and took after his brother by playing
catcher on a summer baseball team.
He is an avid iPad operator and loves to do
crafts. He also shows some signs of becoming a philosopher. His mom reported
last week that while he was looking at the ads for new computer games, he noticed
that most of them were marked “M” for mature.
He then observed, “How does that make any sense? If someone was mature
they wouldn’t be playing computer games, would they?” Hmmm--- a definite case
of early onset wisdom.
Here’s your final break: Have you ever found it a little
scary to see Braille numbers on the keypad for a drive-thru bank machine? Jim
and Jan are also chugging along. Jan, as
promised last year, gave up the AAUW Art Presenter Program after 40 years. She does remain on the Warren County Library Board
and is still active in AAUW. For his
part Jim has given up chairmanship of the Old Friends Talk Arts program at the Buchanan
Center for the Arts. To make up for this
sudden influx of leisure both of them are now spending more time at the local
history museum where Jim is a board member and Collection Management Chair.
Even though our travels
this year have been focused on Finland, we did manage a trip to Cancun in
January to join our old friends the Spaetzels from Beloit College days. 
Then there was a swing through Arizona in
February, and Carolina, Georgia, and
Florida early in the summer. Finally we took a side trip to Barcelona, Spain,
on the way back from Finland. Full photo coverage for the very curious is available
on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/83918664@N00/.
And that’s the way it is forty years on. We send you holiday greetings wherever you
may be and wish for you and your loved ones a happy and healthy New Year. Cheers!
p.s. WHY IS THERE
AN EXPIRATION DATE ON SOUR CREAM? Do you need more nostalgia? Try http://mentalfloss.com/article/52164/11-things-we-no-longer-see-movie-theaters
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