Christmas, 2005
Each year I write this, I tell you that you can crumple it up and throw it away as long as you take a moment to sit and relax during the busy holiday season. This year is different. Please do not throw away this year’s letter!
At least not yet. If you are one of those folks that just can’t stand Christmas letters, please take a moment to copy our new address off the envelope before you put this into the shredder. If the envelope is already shredded into little, bitty pieces of recycled paper, here is the new address:
Once you have copied us into your little black book, then you can recycle this letter and take a well deserved break. For those of you who would like to catch up with us, here is the rest of the story…
As you can see, we moved. Jon decided that we had to build a new house. (I loved our old house in Fairfax! We had been there for 19 years!! I raised my kids there!!!) But he made me move. To his credit, he did it for the right reasons.
Over the past few years, Aunt Winnie has been living in an apartment around the corner from us in the Fairfax house. Recently she has been calling us more often for help with various issues. Jon decided that it would be better if we moved Winnie in with us. Unfortunately, with her replacement hips and knees, she would not be able to navigate the stairs in our Fairfax house.
Being the engineer that he is, Jon designed a house that has two bedrooms in the basement for Winnie and my Mom. We moved in last month and it really is nice! All of the doors in the basement are French so that Winnie can maneuver her walker with ease. Best of all, it has a beautiful stone fireplace that they can turn on with the flip of a switch! It truly is lovely and I think they will be very comfortable. And I can run down and see them when ever I need to (without getting into a car).
As for the rest of the clan, Bill is a senior in High School. He is doing quite well! His grades are wonderful and he has been a big help, transporting his sister back to Fairfax for school and other activities. He is thinking about a Business major in college and wants to go to Marymount University here in Arlington. He hasn’t heard from them yet, so he is running to the mail box each day after school.
Allison is a sixth grader who loves sports. She is playing travel softball and having a great time. Her coaches are awesome and she is really learning to play every position. Right now they have her concentrating on third base and center field. For a change of pace, she plays catcher. In her spare time she plays on two basketball teams. Once again she has great coaches who really let her enjoy herself. Jon and I have a blast watching her play and cheering for her teams. (I just love seeing her smiling as she plays!)
Jim is a sophomore at Carnegie-Mellon. He is studying Electrical & Computer Engineering and seems to be surviving the brutal weather that seems to plague Pittsburgh. He must be doing well enough since the Navy is still paying his tuition bills. (That is a good thing since we certainly can’t afford to pay them with this new house!)
Mom is doing well. She turned 80 this year. She has had the unenviable task of unpacking all of Aunt Winnie’s boxes, since Winnie is not able to get to them herself. She has really let her nesting urge go to work in the basement, spreading knick-knacks across every flat surface in every room.
Aunt Winnie survived the move with flying colors. I was afraid the she wouldn’t be able to adjust to the new surroundings, but she moved right in and it looks like she had been there forever. What a trooper!
Jon is, well, Jon. He is still working as a “Computer Geek” (at least that is what his business card reads). Whatever he is doing, he appears to be enjoying it. He is still playing hockey in the middle of the night, although he misses coaching and playing with Jim & Bill. In his spare time he has been setting up the PC and phone infrastructure in the new house. I really think that our house has a better setup than my office.
Speaking of which, I have just survived my first year as a full-time employee. I must be doing something right since I was just promoted to “Training Manager”. It is very exciting and challenging (not to mention scary) to be responsible for the training and quality assurance of over three hundred people! I am having a wonderful time except that the new house has added 30 minutes to my commute.
So, that is what’s new in our life. We have had our ups and downs, but on the whole it has been a great year! I hope yours has been as well. If you haven’t already done so, drop us a line and share your news. I Christmas letters!
P.S. You can also find me at maria@gras.org if you are reasonably computer literate. While you are surfing around on the web, take a look at www.grasmeder.com/Fifty Years for pictures of the entire Grasmeder clan at Jon’s parent’s 50th wedding anniversary party.