Click
any
blue link
to
see a photo.
After viewing a photo,
click on the Back button
in the upper left corner of your screen to return
to this letter.
May you be blessed with peace, happiness and love this Christmas!
What a year 2020 has been! In spite of all the changes Covid-19 brought to our lives, Rich and Susan are grateful for life and relatively good health. We know some of you have been touched by the virus and some have lost loved ones. You are in our hearts and prayers. We are still learning how to slow down and savor the simple things while longing for a return to normal life.
We are very blessed to have enjoyed scheduled vacations in January, February and March. Good memories from these are all we had to sustain us through the rest of the year. Our first 3 week adventure was in Maui with 3 of Rich’s cousins, and spouses, and our dearest friend Pat. Besides lots of warm water beach time, we went whale watching, hiking, and visited a botanical garden.
After returning home for a week, we flew to the Caribbean island of St. Maarten with a group of Seattle friends. Hurricane Irma damaged over 90% of the island 3 years ago, 8 months after our last visit. Our group wanted to return in hopes a recovery was substantial, especially for a couple we had gotten to know who owned an on-the-beach restaurant. As luck would have it, they re-opened their restaurant just a week prior to our arrival. On our third day, Rich helped them assemble their new barbecue and they were able to start serving food. We have always enjoyed the warm water and beach on Orient Bay.
Leaving St. Maarten, we were joined by 3 more friends for a 6 day Celebrity cruise on the Equinox through the central Caribbean. The coronavirus was just beginning to make the news, so lots of sanitizing rules were implemented. Due to Covid-19 concerns, the Dominican Republic Health Minister wouldn’t clear us to disembark until it was too late in the day. We missed that island and sailed on to Nassau.
Back on shore, we visited the family of Rich’s brother in Orlando. With news of the virus becoming more dire, we passed on Disney World. Instead, all 6 of us drove to Savannah GA and spent several days taking in the sights and history of the city, including the bench central to the movie Forrest Gump. We also got to have lunch with Rich’s cousin Jim Parkinson and wife June.
We arrived home 3/16 and Washington State shut down on 3/18. And so our new Covid-life began. We invested in a larger TV since we expected to be using it more. Got in more neighborhood walks and tried getting used to social distancing during visits from friends on our front porch. We miss seeing our friends, but managed a July 4th celebration on our deck with friend, Pat, and niece Sara and Colin. Masks were worn in the house and hands were washed before using serving utensils. In spite of the restrictions and the cancellation of the Renton fireworks, we were treated to fireworks launched by the many homes across the lake.
Highlights included joining our friend Pat on Saturday nights over take out dinners, having a glass of wine and visiting. Friends Keith and Sandi invited us to their Lake house for a day. We missed being joined by our full group of friends for a long weekend, but this gave us an opportunity to enjoy the lake and get away from home.
As the start of the pandemic, Susan’s Children’s Hospital Guild decided to use their sewing skills to make masks to sell as a charity fundraiser. With some trial and error, and continued improvement in fitting of the masks, the project took off. Since many of their usual fund raisers were cancelled, they were delighted when the $4,000 sales milestone was reached. Susan, at last count, had made over 150 of them.
Zoom has become part of our lives, as well as Skype, especially since we are in the group more vulnerable to Covid-19. Susan’s Scripture Study group now meets via Zoom. We continue to attend church Mass, but via Zoom. Susan’s book club resumed meetings via Skype. A group of our friends Zoom nightly for 40 minutes. Bingo and Family Feud are played once a week along with music trivia and just chatting.
For Rich, being quarantined at home resulted in starting the deferred renovation on the exterior of our house. The first of several steps towards moving to a smaller place to pass away our senior years. What started in May as correcting an overloaded beam above our kitchen expanded into additional structure work to correct dry rot and woodpecker damage, new garage doors, new windows, new siding, a new exterior paint job (not yet complete), a kitchen remodel, refinished hardwood floors, and more. Much of the work was done by contractors, but Rich did a lot. It became his full time job. Some tasks won’t be completed until dry weather arrives next spring. But we are pleased with the newly emerging look (before painting is complete) compared to before. After a year’s effort, he also received a city permit to top some cottonwood trees that started blocking our view of Lake Washington. He has also continued his financial planning business.
We are grateful our families remain in good health, although some have lost jobs or have had their hours reduced. This year we will not be able to travel and be with them for Christmas, like so many families. We trust that being safe now will bring us all together in 2021.
Wishing you a happy, healthy and safe 2021..…
Missed
a previous year's Christmas newsletter or photos?
Clink on a link below to access past issues.
