I drafted one of those end of year holiday essays that some of my clever friends include in their Christmas cards. They are fun to read and I figured I can do that. Now, my wife will never approve of course, so here it goes instead :-)…….
Christmas 2023
This is my first attempt at this. Dale will be either nervous or cringing until she reads and approves the draft, so by the time you get this it will surely be heavily edited if not redacted.
Bottom line, all is well. Let’s start with the kids. Surrey is now 12 years old and Rooney is almost the same, just a few months younger than her ‘sister.’ It’s a pretty good run for a lab, but they are in excellent shape – minimum two walks a day and when we are in Maine they go for months without having to wear a leash (you should see their faces when we get back to Ct and they have to tolerate such a burden). The “new” guy is Gimli (son of Gloin, a hearty dwarf from Lord of the Rings, for the uninitiated). He’s a little guy and I resisted getting a small dog, but somehow Dale won…and we have successfully turned him into a not-so-little dog, topping out at about 30 pounds. They get along fabulously with their cousins Mogul and Rusko, who live in Winter Park, Colorado and Burlington, Vermont, respectively.
The human side of the family is also going well. Katie is head of social media for Alterra, the parent company of some of the best ski mountains in the world, such as Winter Park, Steamboat, A-basin, Mammoth and many more. Theirs is the ikon pass. Anyone with the epic pass is no longer of interest to us. Good luck at your ‘B’ mountains. Katie moved up to Winter Park a few years ago with Mogul – we are pretty sure it was Mogul’s idea – and it works out really well for the rest of the family as we have a great place to stay, and Winter Park has a couple of good distilleries, too….so I’ve heard. She’s living the life, dating a great guy (not just a nice guy) and spends her time either on the mountain or on her phone, doing social media and getting paid for it.
Sarah lives in London and works for JPMorgan. She’s been there since she graduated from Wake Forest 10 years ago. She professes that “I’m not coming back. You people have guns, shootings, Trump, and so much more.” In any case, she loves London, and frankly so do we. She now has two roommates – Piggy is the important one. She’s a 3-year-old cat with attitude (I realize that might be redundant) and she dotes on her. More recently, Ian moved in. Ian is a kiwi, but the human kind. He’s a wonderful guy who grew up in New Zealand and has been in London for as long as Sarah has. Much promise in this relationship, which we give a thumbs up to.
Jack is finishing up at University of Vermont Medical School. It’s a simple process really. He got his undergrad degree in Biology, and then his Masters in Biology and then spent 4 years working at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. Next was med school and next year he starts his residency, somewhere. The location will be unveiled sometime in March, and he will start making a living sometime before Dale and I expire…so he promises. The news that’s just as big is that he’s engaged to be married. The lovely Katy (as opposed to Katie) lives with Jack and Rusko and even contributed a nice old kitty named Michael…..presumably named after me, ya?
Young Will is our entrepreneur. He told me he wanted to start his own business 3 years ago, and asked for my help. I love it when my kids ask for my help, but I do have to pick my spots. We launched Osprey’s Echo Sea Kayaking (www.ospreysecho.com) and damned if he hasn’t made a nice job of it. The whole family helps when we can, but Will is the one on the water for about 10 hours a day up in Maine, entertaining customers with stories of the island, its history and the glory of the lobster industry. He basically spends the whole year outdoors. The kayaking season runs from May through October, then he hits the road and goes backpacking somewhere – this year across Europe. When he returns he will be a ski instructor at Sugarbush in Vermont, teaching kids how to ski and trying to recruit new guides for the summer.
Dale and I are now retired. I confess it took me some time to get used to the idea, and frankly I’m still not sure if Dale either approves or is used to it. Nonetheless, the good news is that our kids are all placed in fun places to visit, so we bounce between London, Colorado, Vermont, Maine and Connecticut…and at least once a year we get instructions from Sarah about a great family holiday. Not much sitting on the beach for this crew. Not even much sitting still, frankly.
Our home in Stonington, Maine is wonderful. The photo above is of a Christmas tree made from lobster pots, at one of the local restaurants. We spend the whole summer up there now, supporting Will, playing pickle ball (Dale’s preferred sport) and hiking and kayaking. We still have our home in Weston, CT, but watch this space.
If you got this, you must someone that we sincerely wish a lovely holiday season.
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