Annual Letter, Neergaard and van der Werff Families, December 2020
Lois and Dick
Our Tale of 2020:  "Hunkered Down" -  like everyone else


Lois continues to thrive;  no virus in the world would dare molest her.  I on the other hand, while mostly well, seem somehow, inexplicably, to be getting older. 

A recounting of our nap times of 2020 would have little to offer, so moving right along, here are updates of the members of our family who are actually interesting...


The van der Werffs:  Sue and Jan Willem;  Willem and Nick
 
 From Jan Willem

Birth of a House
 Sue and I have been kept busy supervising the development (clearing, road building, etc) of the 32 acres of forested land we've bought in Cincinnati's western exurbs*.  The old house there has been razed and construction started on its replacement, the venerable barn is being restored and remodeled to become a workshop, office and guest house.   Several trees from a majestic stand of walnuts are being harvested for conversion into quite handsome floorboards.
There are lots of pix of the project (and of dogs) to be seen among the photos on Sue's FaceBook page
Jan Willem Boone and Sue Crockett
In my "spare time" I'm continuing as VP of Operations for Deceuninck, a global Belgian firm that makes frames for windows and doors.  I'm also on the board of LION, a Dayton based company providing gear for fire fighters.  Sue is the family's liaison with contractors and architect, and manager of the affections of the two rambunctious puppies (Lab and Stabij), now powerful adolescents, that we imported last year from Belgium. 
             *  EDITOR'S NOTE:  I'm in awe of what they're doing, and am very, very, proud of them.]

 Our older son Willem, now a graduate Mechanical Engineer, has been working as a Commissioning Agent on assignment at Eli Lilly.  His brother Nick has just graduated from Miami University with a BS in biology, a minor in Spanish and a second minor in Micro-Biology (thus well placed to be on the front line to rescue us when the next pandemic hits).



From Arthur


I struggle to find something positive to report for the 2020 Christmas Letter … "2020" mostly says it all.

There is good news, I decided to move, and after 26 years of renting because I wasn’t ready to settle, I finally decided to buy a place*.  I loved living in the middle of downtown when I lived in Brussels, so I decided finally to do the same thing in Cincinnati, and moved into the middle of the hubbub that is city center.  This was an awesome decision, though the timing left a little to be desired, as I moved from tranquil Mt. Adams, to bustling Cincinnati on March 1, two weeks before Covid hit.  Then, I had to live in the construction zone that came from converting a bedroom to an office and redoing a bathroom.  Best news is that as of Nov 25, I’m done.  The last contractor is gone!  Still have to organize, but construction is over!  WooHoo!
*   EDITOR'S NOTE:  If you'd like to have a look at my whimsical, way over-the-top depiction of Arthur's apartment, CLICK HERE
My little company,  ShootingSight, is progressing.  I lost a couple of machinists, but hired a new guy who can do the work of two, so after a slow summer, I’m back in the saddle once more.  I don’t make much, but if I were out playing golf, I’d be losing more, so it's a cost savings.

The pets are good.  I lost my favorite cat Oliver a few months ago.  I’m sad, but at 17, he had a good run and was well loved.  My dog Pumpkin is doing well at 10, and my atomic powered pup Parker, at 3, is still atomic, but perhaps not quite at the explosive level he was.  If you ascribe to the dog calendar, I’ve gone from having a 14 year old to a 21 year old – better, though not yet mature.  My other cats are thriving; the only issue is that Sophia has discovered the reverberations in the tall ceilings of the living room make her voice louder, and she likes to sing the ‘song of 'her people’ in the middle of the night, joyfully wailing at a level that I’m pretty sure the neighbors can hear.       Life, after all, is good.
Richard and Thi;  Samer and Lila

Richard and Thi
 Richard, Thi, and Thi's parents, have just flown from the UK to Viet Nam.  As I write, they're in quarantine in Hanoi.  Because of the outbreak of the mutated virus in  London, they were required to wear HazMat suits in the airport and on the plane.  As opposed to the UK, Viet Nam is almost virus-free.  Once they're (finally!) out of quarantine, they expect Viet Nam's seaside resorts will prove to be a lot more pleasant in Winter than London's streets.  In the meantime they're enjoying an extended stay cloistered in a quite spartan army barracks at the airport.

Richard is continuing to develop his "Car Art"in conjunction with Formula One teams that provide him with pieces to make into collages.  He's also experimenting with poured resins to create quite interesting images.
Stylish in Heathrow
Their new condo-on-the Thames is in an historic building.  They've not yet moved in, pending completion of renovations.  All upgrading, modernization, and repairs must be vetted and agreed by appropriate committees and authorities.  It's taking rather a while - as you might image...
   
      Samer is happily working (twenty hour days) in Boston as an engineer with the Audio Company Sonos,

Lila is doing her last term at Northeastern University, but remotely,  
from the Egyptian seaside resort El Gouna on the Red Sea (poor kid). 
The choice of what's next now looms:  Graduate school or the business world.




From Peter and Cathy ;  Steven and Alex


What can I say, its 2020.  I’ll sum it up with the happy assurance that everyone in the Pittsburgh clan is healthy, and nobody has contracted Covid (yet). 

Cathy and I work in the conference industry… Cathy is full time with SAP, and I do a part time retirement gig.  Obviously, this sector has been hit especially hard in 2020.  The good news is that Cathy’s division has figured out how to work through the challenges and is still rather busy.  My job has fallen off to nearly zero, but seeing as how it’s just a side retirement gig, that’s just fine. 

As a family, we really haven’t left the house much since March 13 when Alex’s school moved to fully remote learning.  For Alex (now in 6th grade), this was both good and bad.  He missed his friends and the social aspect of school, but he also enjoyed having us as teaching assistants and being involved in the learning process.  Moreover, given that Cathy and I are home full time, it was easy for us to adapt.   

Once the fall semester came around, Alex had the option of remote learning or participation in a hybrid model… we opted for the fully remote learning - everyone looks forward to the day when he can go back in-person. (Check Peter's FB page to hear Alex's piano recitals)

Steven is a sophomore at RIT studying Mechanical Engineering.  His spring semester was moved to remote learning in mid-March, but thankfully things got back to in-person classes for the Fall.  During the Summer, he was lucky enough to have an uncle (Arthur) who very graciously offered him an internship working at ShootingSight in Cincinnati.  Not just that, Uncle Arthur also let Steven stay in his new downtown condo. 

So as I observed at the outset, it’s 2020.  Our new hobbies are stockpiling toilet paper and hand sanitizer.  We decided to skip all 2020 birthdays since we really didn’t use the year.  We look forward to a better and more sane 2021 (on so many levels).  







Let us all fervently hope for a Happy 2021!
 Cordially, the Neergaard and van der Werff families