We’re back! After taking an unintended break (due to bad planning and unexpected events last Christmas), we’re here again to wish you the merriest Christmas and a great 2005.
2004 started with a 60th anniversary and ends with a 60th birthday. Tim's mom and dad had an anniversary party on January 17th that won't be soon forgotten.
We were happy to get to spend a week in Phoenix--and some of it with them. Three days of our time was spent sitting in our apartment waiting for the airlines to fix Tim's wheelchair. They broke it so that it wouldn't do that key thing: move.
Tim's brother-in-law (and Cindy's husband) Jim celebrates his 60th birthday on December 26.This time we'll be there only in thought andspirit, but with a lot of good wishes in both.
In between those two big events, it's been a quiet year for us, with a lot of settling-in to the new house,and the usual menu of challenges and achievement at work for both of us. We are getting more and more comfortable in our new home; it really suits all our needs. Just a reminder: we do have guest rooms! We were delighted to welcome Tom (Lynda's brother) and Connie for a visit in July on their drive across country, then our dearfriend Sandi came in from Sacramento over Labor Day weekend, and friends Hilary and Stuart from Detroit made October bright. Rick (Tim's brother) and Tonya capped the year for us with a fun weekend visit in December.
Landscaping the new front yard became a fun, but not obsessive, hobby over the spring and summer. Tim's now devoted to gardening, and for a newcomer to the game, has strong opinions and preferences. Don't be surprised if you one day come by and find nothing but wild grasses bordering the front terrace. Except for the January trip to Phoenix, we've been home-bodies all year. Got up to Taylor's Falls for a day-trip with Hilary and Stuart, and had fun discovering the completely accessible paths over the rocks way above the St. Croix river. Then at Thanksgiving we took a road trip to Chicago for the weekend. We had agreat time, enjoying the high life in the big city. Here's Tim enjoying our highest height: the 95th floor of the John Hancock Building.
We seem to get worse about writing as we get older and busier, but even when we’re not in touch,we’re thinking about you, and our lives feel enmeshed in yours. Time in middle-age seems to get spread more thinly because the older we get,the more people and obligations we “acquire.” But people mean community, and we reflect sometimes on the joy of the many communities to which we belong. We are involved with so many people in our jobs (Tim in the disability community; Lynda in public higher education) and at church (where we love our parish and the company of several hundred people of our age and devotion, attitudes, ways of mind and spirit). We also try to be responsibly active in city, state, and country government (don’t worry; we’re not going to say anything more political than that in our Christmas letter).
Above all,we rejoice in longtime friends near and far...and always, always feel deeply blessed in family.We love everyone to whom we’re sending this letter, and we wish you the best in these twelve days of Christmas and in the twelve months to come. For ourselves, we wish for more time with you!
Lynda's Route