2012 Holiday Letter

Fond Holiday Greetings, December 2012

Another year and more adventures, adventure in fewer places outside the U.S. this year than in the past, though no more time at home in the Twin Cities. I hope your year has been filled with the enjoyment, satisfaction and contentment that I've experienced.

2012 started off in drizzly India, obscuring the Taj Mahal, the focal point for the trip to India my nephew Justin and I had planned. We’d arranged our trip to see the Taj Mahal at dawn to welcome in 2012. It was the only time it rained on our three week journey in India yet it did not obscure a wonderful trip and bonding experience, one that neither of us will forget. The trip to India was my gift to Justin who graduated from Hofstra University in May. He wanted to caddy for one more summer and fall before moving into the real world of work, and not having yet landed a full-time job to move him into the real world, this seemed to be a good time to take a trip together. I wanted him to experience the culture of a developing country, a culture which offered to few what he was used to having.

Maybe Justin knew India was high on my bucket list, or maybe it's because he'd seen a movie about India in school, Born into Brothels, that he chose this country. Either way, our destination was clear. Justin found an India non-profit for us to do some volunteer work, a week during which he really came into his own while teaching four and five year olds English and Math. I had to blink away the tears when looking at him over my students to see an enormous grin on his face as he energetically interacted with these tiny children, and how enthusiastic they were in response. He enthralled the children as they sat in the cold stark classroom sitting on the cold and dirty cement floor using the few books and slates available for teaching. His enthusiasm migrated outside for recess where he batted the softball into the nearby scrubby field, stirred up the dirt playing tag in the barren yard which served as a playground and stood erect as a hall tree as kids climbed onto his shoulders, back and arms. I can still hear the laughter of the kids as they dangled from arms he held straight out in front of him. Justin would wave from the car window as we left each day, clearly already missing the interaction with Dahno, Sanju, Rohit, and Sneha

The memory of Justin teaching his circle of young students is clearer than my memory of the Taj Mahal. The Taj is actually a tomb and is as impressive as its reputation. It was built out of love and a challenge, the challenge from a wife who died from childbirth. She made her husband promise her three things: do something for which she would be remembered, never remarry (which he didn't, though he did have a lover), and raise their children, one of which imprisoned his father, thus stopping construction of a second Taj Mahal, this one in black, so there would be an inheritance for his children.  My other favorite memory of this trip was hearing Justin say, at about 6 a.m. "I get to go diving today" and seeing him underwater. He was getting certified to scuba dive, earning his advanced certification in the 9 days we spent in the Andaman Islands located between India and Thailand. What a treat to see him adapt so quickly, and come to love it as I do. I think I have a new dive buddy!

 I realized I'd achieved my goal when I listened to my phone messages after returning from a month in the British Virgin Islands and heard Justin singing happy birthday to me. What a nice follow-up to four weeks of sailing interspersed with more scuba diving. This wasn’t all play. I was there to teach sailing. Even though I’m teaching, it doesn’t feel like work. I do have a great part-time job. My busy time of year is the summer when I teach sailing on Lake Superior. This summer was busier than ever, leaving little time for kayaking and trying out my new paddle board. Why I thought I could fit all this in I don't know, considering I again participated in the sailboat race from Chicago to Mackinac Island. Next year our skipper is hoping for a podium finish. I'll keep my fingers crossed and my feet solidly on the boat. I've parlayed my teaching onto shore, leading students through the maze of buoys and lighthouse and tides and currents so they can navigate themselves successfully through charted waters when sailing. And I'll again wade my way through meteorological books in hopes of better understanding weather with the intent to make this somewhat more easily understandable for others. We might not be able to escape the effects of super storm Sandy, but the farther ahead we can anticipate such events, the safer we can be on a sailboat and anywhere else.

After a ten year hiatus, I returned to St. Louis in the fall for a short weekend to attend my 40th high school reunion. I’m still in awe it’s been that long as I’m sure others have said before me. Much has changed in my hometown, but I was able to maneuver enough to visit friends and my stepmother’s effervescent twin sister and her husband. These last few months have been rather quiet, a good time for restoration. When home, I continue to foster cats, which sometimes curl up on my lap when I’m at my computer writing. A group of women I met at my last writing class continue to meet. The stories we read to each other are sensitive and varied. We’ve formed a bond that I hope will carry us through, adding motivation for us all to write our stories that will endure over time.

 Here's to a safe and adventurous 2013 surrounded by friends and family.