Sending Christmas cards is an old fashioned tradition that seems to have fallen out of fashion as fewer and fewer people are taking the time to actually send Christmas cards. However, it is one of my favorite traditions as it gives me time to sit and reflect upon the year that was and to think forward to the year that is coming. I’ve decided to include our Christmas letter below, with a few minor modificaitons to protect the “innocent.”
It’s Christmas Eve and I’m sitting in front of my window looking out at the cold and snowy park across the street and thinking about how much I have to be grateful for this holiday season. First is the big one: that John survived a heart attack earlier this month. The doctors removed a complete blockage in one artery and put a stent in, and found another blockage that he will have to have taken care of in the near future. He spent five days in the hospital, but he’s home now, slowly regaining his strength. We’re working very hard to change our lifestyle to include less fats and more exercise. It’s a huge challenge, but giving up cheeseburgers seems like a pretty small sacrifice if it means having John around for a long time.
John was able to go back to work virtually (i.e. telecommuting) the week after his heart attack. He’s a Network Security Administrator for a company downtown so he’s fortunate that he has a job he can do remotely. He’s been there for a little over three years and he really enjoys his job and the people he works with. His office is downtown on Michigan Ave. I really didn’t appreciate how cool it was to work on Michigan Ave until he was at the hospital at Northwestern Memorial and I got to spend time hanging out downtown.
Sean’s at the University of Illinois Chicago and after a rocky first year, he’s settled into the rhythm of college life and is learning to balance work and play. He’s living downtown in the dorms and he loves being downtown and being able to take public transportation everywhere he goes. He has a job in the AV lab at school and is the acting captain of the debate team. He’s also very fortunate in that two of his best friends are also going to school downtown so he gets to see them quite often. Sean got a head start on adapting a healthier lifestyle as he’s been working at reading labels and exercising more for the last six months.
Caitlin, or Cat as she prefers to be called, is a senior in high school and looking forward to graduating and going to school at UIC. She and Sean are planning to share an apartment, mainly so that she can have all of her “children” with her. Cat inherited her love of animals from her grandfather and she has two birds, a hamster, a fish, and two guinea pigs. Cat’s active on her school paper, The Pacer, which has won several awards both last year and this year, and is an award-winning debater. She also works part time at our local bakery where she’s a valued member of the team and has even been told by her manager that she should go into marketing because of her friendly customer service.
As for me, I’m still working at the same company, but I’ve changed jobs and am the Customer Relationship Manager for our Shared Service Center. For the most part I enjoy my job and my coworkers, but what I really love about my job is that it’s only five minutes from home and I can slip out every so often and meet Caitlin for lunch. I’ve also started blogging (www.myeverydaybliss.com) and have been working on a couple of books that I hope to have published next year.
The most important member of our family, our dog Luke, takes his job of guarding the house seriously and he chases the mailman away every day and makes sure that our yard is free of squirrels. We are truly blessed to have him in our family and three years after adopting him, we still can’t believe that two families sent him back to the shelter because he is the sweetest and most loving dog imaginable.
I sincerely hope that this holiday season finds all of you well and that the New Year holds many opportunities for all of you.
Sincerely,
The Family
Cairn by Cairn 