We are pleased to report that 1998 was the most productive year on record for this branch of the Neergaards: two grand-babies and a wedding! But I get ahead of myself.
The gloom period into which winter inevitably settles after the holidays was this year dispelled, at least for me, by my escape in February to Tanzania with the Treadaways (Lois said she'll go when the Serengeti is properly air-conditioned). The veldt was so crowded with zebra and wildebeest that when the herds occasionally thinned one could understand how no gnus can be considered good news. The topper was a balloon ride over the wilderness, which came to earth by a copse wherein miraculously was set a champagne brunch, linen tablecloths and all. (Trip journal on request). Poor Waltraud had to help me spot the more distant beasts, but directly upon my return to Cincinnati I had my working eye laser-tuned to an astounding 20/15, so I can now with full justification be called Hawk-Eye.
The end of winter, being less gloomy, could be dealt with more gently. In March Lois and I drove to the South Carolina coast, staying en route with the Duprees on Kiawah, to spend a couple of weeks on Hilton Head Island, the occasion being an informal four-day reunion of my MIT fraternity brethren from the mid '50's. It turned out to be an astoundingly glorious event. Faces in which character had been carved, once recognized, were immediately restored to remembered youthfulness, conversations which had been left off 40-plus years ago were cheerily resumed, and we became pleasantly aware by looking at ourselves through ourselves, how good the world in this latter half of our century had been to us. Our journey back to Cincinnati included a most pleasant visit with John and Matilda Bradshaw at their place in Garden City Beach.
 LOIS AND DICK |
In April, the pace of life quickened. Lois and I
went to
Holland to help with the launch into the world of Nicholas, Sue and Jan
Willem's second son, our third grandchild. Mother and child
came through.with flying colors. The christening, in Uccle,
was graced by the presence of Michael and Zofia Devlin as
godparents.
A particularly bright event during this trip was the opportunity to
share
an evening in Brussels with Joop and Frédérique Westhoff.
We returned in May, in time to host, with Pete and Luce Ifland, a joint 80th birthday party, Dixieland band and all, for Don and Babs Dahlman, whom we managed to catch between trips to England and Turkey, and who will have to wait at least another 20 years if they ever expect to add "elderly" to the many reasons for which they are already so widely venerated. |
It was in July that the year shifted into high. Sue and Jan
Willem,
with their 20-month-old precocious tornado Willem and infant Nicholas,
arrived from Holland mid-month to stay with us in anticipation of Peter
and Lisa's August-first wedding. Towards the end of the month,
Arthur
flew in from his current home base in Switzerland, and Richard from his
in Tel Aviv (Ishraq, seven months pregnant and planning to come to
Cincinnati
in a few weeks for her lying-in, wasn't able to join us).
| We then all convoyed from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh for four
days of
wedding festivities which were happy in every respect, not least in the
welcoming of Peter's lovely Lisa into our family. They
honeymooned
in Fiji.
In mid-August our beloved Ishraq arrived, accompanied by her sparkling 22-month-old Samer. Richard returned from Israel in time to preside over the (successful!) entry into the world on September 22nd of Lila, our fourth grandchild and first granddaughter, whose little finger will doubtless be held instinctively at the ready for her dad and grand-dad willingly to be wound around. When they all left in early October, the house became v e r y q u i e t. |
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Lois and I, after ten weeks of this, er, delightful baby bombardment, took the next two months off. Early November we visited our friends Bob and Marion Rothstein in Dallas on the occasion of their sponsor's night at the symphony (Meyerson Hall produces far and away the most splendid sound I've ever heard), then at the end of the month we set out for a fortnight of relaxation in Hilton Head. Bob and Louise Messner drove down from Vermont to join us for a week of tennis and sailing over Thanksgiving, and we enjoyed visiting with the Sagendorphs and Cartys, who are permanent residents.
At this writing, we're been back in Cincinnati, but for only a few days to unpack our resort clothes and pack up our woolies. Then off once again to Sint Annaland, that winter vacation paradise island in the North Sea, where, at Sue and Jan Willem's house, we'll celebrate the holidays with all the rest of the family, save the (sadly) vacation-constrained newlyweds.
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Sue has discovered, having left GE to raise their two little
boys,
that if what she truly wants is leisure, she will almost certainly have
to go back to work. She's just moved her chair in
Bergen-op-Zoom's
Junior Chamber of Commerce to the Senior Chamber, to insure she keeps
her
hand in.
Jan Willem, who as manager of production for GE's Lexan plastic products in Europe has been heard freely to express the noble disdain that all line folk feel for the feather merchants of staff, has now been promoted into what GE undoubtedly fondly believes will be a mellowing staff assignment for him: running the safety program for GE Plastics in Europe. Jan Willem and I are planning a Wine Run next week to Provence to restock the family cellars, a trip I'm quite looking forward to. |
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Arthur continues to keep a moving target, starting the year
with a
dive trip to Burma and ending it with one to Bali. He's
responsible
for developing a packaging system for P&G's plant in China, one
element
of which is being designed in Switzerland where he currently has his
digs,
another in Belgium, whence he'll soon move. Poor chap has to
ration
the number of days he resides in Switzerland to avoid being classified
as a resident for tax purposes, so must go to Paris, or Brussels, or St
Annaland, gosh, every weekend. A few days ago he popped over to
Warsaw....
a friend who lives there had tickets to the final of the Miss Poland
contest.
Sometime in 1999 he'll move to Guangchow for the installation and
startup
of the equipment he's been working on.
Arthur did manage get back to Cincinnati for a few occasions, such as his brother's wedding, and to host his annual gala party for Riverfest, during which, from the balconies of his apartment in Mt Adams, friends and family all get to watch the Ohio River being blown up. |
| Richard's business has prospered, and he was informed at the
end of
September, while he was with us in Cincinnati, that as of October first
he would no longer be general manager of Benckiser's Israel subsidiary,
but was to post himself to corporate headquarters in Amsterdam to be Sr
VP in charge of Benckiser's flagship category, automatic dishwashing
products.
It seems he's been on airplanes ever since.
Ishraq, who as consultant to Benckiser in Israel made a major contribution to developing their Arab market there, is pondering strategies for continuing her career - and coping with the rather danker weather - in Amsterdam. At the moment she's in Cairo seeing to their apartment there and wrestling with the dreary residency visa requirements associated with her move to the Netherlands. |
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Peter has moved from programing with Transarch, a company
making computer
networking systems, to the training of its customers. Turns out
he's
a natural teacher and loves the work, which has the added benefit of
bringing
him to various corners of the world. Transarch was earlier this
year
acquired by IBM, and has just recently been fully absorbed, so Peter is
about to make his debut into the Big Blue corporate world. The
change
from the free-wheeling ambience of the cyber companies he's been
keeping,
promises to be interesting.
Lisa, Peter's bride, does more than just be lovely and display a talent at tennis which threatens to overwhelm her in-laws; she's an auditor for PNC Bank of derivatives (!) trading, in foreign currencies (!!!). We stand in awe. |
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Our very best wishes to you for a most joyous holiday season and a
prosperous,
happy new year
Lois and Dick Neergaard