The Holiday Letter

Friday, December 9, 2011

2011

December 10, 2011

Dear Family & Friends,

The Suzanne Retirement Project – Year 2

Suzanne has defied expectations and actually remained retired. She still stays up late, but now instead of driving to work in the morning, she settles down in what used to be my office and reads the same newspaper I read three hours earlier. Out loud. The pets seem to enjoy it.

Our alma mater, The University of Rochester, asked her to join the Midwest Advisory Council, which got us an invitation to a big planning meeting on Kiawah Island in March. My job as spouse was to run up and down the sandy beaches while Suzanne planned stuff.

In the fall we attended Meliora Weekend. I’m happy to report that the DEKE house was in the same condition as when I last saw it in 1973. Suzanne’s cheerleader friends were in better condition.

< me cheerleaders >

In October Suzanne took a cruise to Nova Scotia with her Aunt Mary who is 92 and has been organizing cruise outings for the last thirty years. While she was gone I moved the file boxes she had brought home from work last year (see 2010 letter). They’d been inconveniently stored in the garage so I moved them to the attic where they will now provide an extra layer of insulation against the fierce Chicago winter.

Facebook

Social media should be an ideal tool for scattered families to keep up-to-date. The problem with that concept is that Stephen is the only one of our kids to friend us. Profile pictures are interesting in what they reveal about a person. Guess which family member is the lawyer.

Where are they now?

Stephen lives in Queens with his girlfriend, Anne Clark. Anne works as a policy analyst for the Institute for Children, Poverty & Homelessness and Stephen is a research scientist at NYU working on his PhD in Chemistry. Through the miracle of Google, I learned he has contributed to a paper that reveals that the Bcl-2 family inhibitor BH3I-1 potently inhibits p53/hDM2.

I was afraid to google the daughters. They are both pursuing artistic careers. Christie is studying jewelry-making at Central St. Martins in London and Nicole owns and operates NicoJoyMillinery.

NicoJoy straw hat modeled by Christie

Nicole

Christie Necklace modeled by Edward

I continue to work on my novel, “American Jukebox.” Two of the chapters have been published as short stories. Links to most of my published stories can be found here at my blog: Do Not Go Gentle....

In August I competed in the USAT National Championship in Vermont. I aspired to finish in the top ten of my age group, but the 30 men who finished ahead of me aspired harder. Next year I hope to compete in an Ironman at C’oeur d’Alene, Idaho.

We hope you all have a great holiday season.

Len & Suzanne

Friday, December 17, 2010

2010

December 17, 2010

Dear Family & Friends

Year 1

Suzanne in Retirement

Ziplining

When I reserved our Kauai timeshare, I cleverly selected the second and third weeks of January so as to give Suzanne time to clean out her BP office.

I figured it might take her two weeks, but I was wrong. It took her five, but she started early. I was pleasantly surprised when she returned home on January 3rd with only a few cartons of files. But then FED EX showed up and filled my garage with the stuff she hadn’t finished reviewing. It’s still there. Kauai was a great way to introduce Suzanne to retirement. We spent the 1st week with the daughters and the second with our friends, Tom and Karen Reepmeyer. Suzanne didn’t even check her email…okay maybe a few times, but just to monitor her ebay bids.

Hidden Falls in Kauai

Hidden Desk at Home

Christie in London

In September, Suzanne and I accompanied Christie to London to help her get settled at Central St. Martins School of Art and Design where she was restarting her formal art education. A minor glitch in her housing (she didn’t have any), a transit strike and all those cars driving on the wrong side of the road made for a somewhat stressful trip, which is why we only have one picture where we’re smiling.

Christie’s apartment building in Tottenham Hale

Stephen in Skaneateles

Stephen is in his 2nd year of graduate study (Chem PhD) at NYU. He teaches Chemistry to undergraduates as part of his fellowship. He now lives in Queens with his girlfriend Anne Clark. In September, while we were in London, Stephen visited his grandmother in Skaneateles. He had planned to compete in the Skinnyman Triathlon, but hurt his knee while training and had to have surgery.

Mom is 94, and soon after Stephen’s visit we persuaded her to move to an assisted living facility, about five miles from Skaneateles. We’re pretty sure she likes it, even though she refers to the residents as inmates.

Nicole in Hats

A week after Christie left, Nicole and her cat moved home so there would be someone around to harass Suzanne. Before Suzanne retired and Nicole returned, it was theoretically possible to get a car in our garage. There’s still room for both of my bikes, but only if I stack them. Nicole’s in the last year of her program at the Art Institute (I hope). She’s a hat designer and earlier this year took “Best in Show” at an Institute event.

Len in the Running

Two years ago I said my novel was 99% complete, so I guess now it’s 99.9% finished. It’s good, but to get published it needs to be great. That last tenth of a percent makes all the difference, so I’m still working on it.

I won a scholarship to attend the Norman Mailer Writers Colony in Provincetown. That was fun – a week at Norm’s house on the Cape – and really helpful. In my other career pursuit, I ran three international distance triathlons and two half-Ironmans. Suzanne came along to cheer and take pictures, but I was moving so fast she almost missed me as I headed out on the run.

We hope you all have a great holiday season.

Len & Suzanne

Holiday Letters from 1988 to 2009 are posted here: http://theholidayletter-len.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

2009

December 12, 2009

Dear Family & Friends

Year in Review – Nostalgia Edition

The Sisters Discover their Long-Lost Brother

I grew up in beautiful Canandaigua, New York with my parents and three lovely sisters. We had great times. Always laughing. And my sisters – so close-knit they wore matching outfits.

Sometimes they dispute my recollection of life in those idyllic days. They recall bickering, arguments, even conflict. But memory’s a funny thing and their memories aren’t that good. I discovered a couple years ago that for decades they had a sibling reunion in various posh resorty locales and forgot to invite their brother. Finally last year they remembered and in February the four of us and our spouses gathered in Phoenix at Carol and Tom’s resort-like home.

Easter at Mom’s

Every couple months I visit my Mom in Skaneateles. I look forward to the trips. I impress Mom with my ability to answer all the early round questions in “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” and she doesn’t make me watch “Dr. Phil.” Of course it’s not just play. I have to fill the bird feeder and make sure her car has gas.

Nicole, Christie and Suzanne all came out for Easter. We had a good time, but the girls refused to honor the Joy tradition and wear funny Easter hats.

Road Trip to British Columbia

In 1960 my family took our world-famous trek across America. My Dad drove the entire 10,775 miles – 29 days. This summer Suzanne and I swapped our Kauai timeshare for a place in the mountains of British Columbia. I convinced Stephen that if we flew his Mom out so that we didn’t have to spend five hours at Wall Drug, the two of us could drive there in three days.

Non-driving Christie provided moral support and Nicole decided to go to Japan. Even without Nicole it was fun and next time we drive through North Dakota we’re definitely going to stop at one of those dinosaur museums.

Triathlon Boy

Stephen is a 1st year Chem PhD candidate at NYU. This summer he started dabbling in triathlons. A few short ones then he decided to try a half-Ironman. He’s fast on the bike, but not so good on turning.

He moved back home for a month in August and then in early September we helped him move in to his new apartment near Greenwich village. He promises to not become a Yankee or Giants fan, but the Cubs and Bears are probably testing his loyalty.

The Fashionistas

Nicole is in her 4th year at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. She switched her concentration this year from Fashion to Fashion accessories like hats. Maybe she should talk to my sisters.

Christie finished her first year at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. She studied fashion, but decided she wanted to pursue her education elsewhere. The else might be London, or California or maybe Chicago. She promises to let us know before she leaves. Meanwhile she’s working on her portfolio and has a part-time job at CVS. It’s great to have her home – and I’m ready to vote for her to stay in Chicago, but so far she hasn’t asked me.

Both of the girls have fashion stores on Etsy where they resell fashion items and their own creations. Nicole’s store is under construction. Christie’s store is named “RottenTapioca.” It’s easy to remember, I guess.

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Acrylic by Christie Necklace by Nicole

Do Not Go Gentle…

I stared a blog this year to chronicle my quest to become a competitive triathlete. My goal is to finish in the top ten of my age group in the USAT Age Group Championships when I turn sixty, which, inexplicably, is going to happen in less than a couple of years.

I also use the blog to ruminate on the challenges of becoming a published writer. I am now starting the fourth iteration of my novel, so I have a lot to ruminate on. The blog can be found at http://lenjoy.blogspot.com/ and is entitled “Do Not Go Gentle…”

I would not normally extend the Holiday Letter to three pages, but…

Life as We Know it is about to End – Suzanne Retires – Maybe

Suzanne started work in 1956 when she entered Kindergarten. Her professional career began in 1977 at the law firm of Schiff Hardin & Waite and continued with BP in 1993 where she eventually became Assistant General Counsel. They haven’t hired twelve people to replace her. Not yet. While I joke about the hours she worked, she somehow found time to…