Volume XLIII December 25, 2016
Christmas 2016
I do not begin this year’s letter with the
normal joke. Instead I simply quote a
sentence from Edward Abbey’s Desert Journey. "Wherever two human beings are alive,
together, and happy, there is the center of the world." Jan has undergone over a year of breast
cancer treatment and is free for the moment (you are never cured) from recurrence.
We rejoice in that and count the blessings of our fifty seven year marriage as
never before. She has not regained all
of her stamina, but she is here and continuing
her commitment to the American Association of University Women and the drive
for women’s rights whether in the home, the workplace, the schools, or
healthcare. Another milestone for her this year was giving up her seat on the
Warren County Library Board after 25 1/2 years of service. Don’t worry, she
still reads a whole bunch.
To get back on a lighter tone, let’s doff a hat to Bill
Bryson. In his book, The Road to
Little Dribbling, he reflects that he is now too old for early onset
dementia and therefore must accept that his growing forgetfulness is coming
right on time. Boy, welcome to the club!
He also asks whether you have observed that as you get older you seem to find
that the world is increasingly populated by imbeciles and that it seems to
belong to them and not you. You now have
our political statement for the year.
--So on to the family news-- Daughter Amy still teaches in the Cedar Rapids
schools. The Brown family life has
recently been upset by the death of Todd’s father, but good things also accrue
in grandson TJ’s graduation with his AA in Fire Science and his current pursuit
of a Paramedic Degree to add to his EMT certification. Grandson Mikel has made
a successful transition to high school freshman. No specific directions detected yet, but he is
doing well. Both boys, as you can see,
now tower above their parents.
Our son David
continues to live and thrive at the Kone Elevator Company in Helsinki, Finland
with his wife Lotta and their two daughters. Frida is now four and Selma just over a year. The picture below shows them in the plane on
their way to making our Thanksgiving about as perfect as perfect can be.
They were able to visit us in the USA for
three full weeks and we had a super reunion with most of our family including my sister and her husband who came from North
Carolina.
Do you hunger for more pictures of their visit? Check out my
blog at stirringthepudding.blogspot.com
Meanwhile, Jim
soldiers on, with camera at the ready to catch some nice shots of the granddaughters.
His
golf game has remained pretty solid for an old guy and he continues to devote around
ten hours a week to his board duties at the Warren County Historical Museum.
The organization received a large endowment grant this past year to hire a full
time director and he had the big job of heading up the search committee. It’s
not surprising then, that he subscribes to the old Yogi Berra line “I usually
take a two hour nap from 1 to 4 every day”
Jan and I are also excited that we will be able to make the
trek to Arizona once again in 2017. It
will be our first big change of scenery in over a year, so give us a holler if
you will be in Tucson in January or February. Our e-mail is dramajim@gmail.com Given
that we will be leaving town right after Christmas, I have simplified our Yuletide
giving strategy. Everyone on the list gets batteries and a short note, saying,
“Toys not included.”
Needless to say we hope you will have a blessed and happy holiday
season. For some extra insurance put some rum in the egg nog and chill out in
front of the tree not the screen. Consider
that one of the great misnomers of all time is the term “Social Media.” Instead put your faith in the kindnesses you
can show on the ground to friends and those in need. Life is still lived for most of us on the local
and personal scale. It is there we can
make the most difference and find the most fulfillment.
Peace to you now and a Happy New Year.
Jim and Jan De Young
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