Lois thrives, pacing herself nicely between quilting, naps, tea, and the amazing array of exciting amusements served up on TV. (In that respect our government is working! OK, its prime function is to defend the nation, but a close second is to provide us with entertainment).
Alas no tennis lately - I'm kinda wobbly; nor, for that reason, will we be able to get ourselves to Hilton Head this winter. Alas.....
Sparkles to life there are still aplenty, particularly brilliant among which are the thrilling performances offered by Met Opera and Bolshoi on the silver screen. And I do continue to enjoy making an occasional small contribution to our community by cobbling-up saucy greeting cards (with Photoshop) for friends and family.
For those bemused, as are we, at finding themselves swept along in the onrush of time, I would heartily recommend the serenity-inducing interlude offered by settling down and reading (or listening to) the excellent perspectives, gently and elegantly put forth, in:
On the Brink of Everything: Grace, Gravity, and Getting Old
  Sue and Jan Willem |
 Willem |
 |
Sue and Jan Willem travel a few times a year to Holland to keep in touch with friends and family, but every Sunday that they're in Cincinnati, they host a family dinner for all who are in town, which is hugely enjoyed and appreciated by every one of us.
Arthur
Arthur is still enjoying doing what he loves - invention and technical development - as a “retirement-job”, running ShootingSight, a small company he founded to manufacture and market equipment for target-shooting. (Sister Sue is Senior Vice President of HR and Customer Service, and Brother-in-Law Jan Willem is Packaging Clerk and CFO [when he's not CEO-ing]).
Arthur's mercy-fueled menagerie of rescued strays continues to increase (thankfully just with dogs- not more cats).
Richard and Thi Lila,Thi, Richard, Samer @LA Lila, Richard, Samer @Boston @Malibu Wedding Day!
Richard & Thi, now married
one year, are enjoying a blissful wedded life, one
that's kept busy with
travels (eg a leisurely sampling of the many splendid
beach resorts of Viet Nam), with home remodeling (LA
and London) and with putting serious
effort into doing art.
Richard's son Samer (our
"Pharaohnic Viking" is about to graduate as a
Mechanical Engineer from Boston University (aptly
focusing on drone design); and Lila, our other "Pharaohnic
Viking", now studying business at
Northeastern, is about to move to NYC on a six-month
marketing coöp program, working at Coty.
.Neither Peter nor Cathy any longer work for IBM. When Peter's entire work group was told it would have to relocate to another city, he volunteered to join the next wave of voluntary retirements. Cathy was recruited around the same time by SAP, to do for them what she had been doing so well for IBM: organizing conferences. Her purview is global, and she gets to work from home.... all good. And even better, that makes Peter a to-do-list-capable house-husband (a-hem - I hear that "capable" is not the same as "accomplishing"). But he may just allow himself to be persuaded to do some consulting back with IBM when they come to realize how very much they miss him.
Peter Cathy
Steven & Alex
Early omen:
"That's it - I'm gonna be an architect in Pisa!"
Happy Christmas!
Steven, in his Senior
year of High School, is a trombonist in concert and
marching bands (as well as in honors and district
bands). The marching band has a maneuver whereby every
alternate trombonist suddenly swings around 360°, requiring the interim trombone
players to have to duck. It's called their Suicide
Dance. Perhaps even more to be admired, he's a
troop leader in Scouts and has fully completed his Eagle
Scout requirements. He's also part of the National
Honors Society. Next year it's off to
college; Steven was accepted at Case Western and the Rochester Institute of
Technology, has chosen the latter, with plans to be (yet
another) engineer.
Alex is an avid and inspired builder (with Lego etc [see image above]), and has maintained his interest in the piano, which he's been studying for over two years (recital videos on request!). He's already better at it than his father (though Peter can still play faster).
Alex is an avid and inspired builder (with Lego etc [see image above]), and has maintained his interest in the piano, which he's been studying for over two years (recital videos on request!). He's already better at it than his father (though Peter can still play faster).