Tuesday, December 15, 2009

1994

                                                                            November 27, 1994

Dear Family & Friends,

As I start this letter, Suzanne is busy making preparations for three birthday parties: Stephen will be 10, Nicole 7 and Christie 5. I told her I would help her as soon as I finished, but I explained that “the letter” can’t be rushed.

Stephen is in the fourth grade. He continues to play soccer (which is really exciting to watch, great exercise for the kids and the games only last 45 minutes) and baseball (where a typical inning consists of 5 walks, 1 hit, 7 stolen bases and 3 strikeouts and the games last two hours.) In enjoy to his post-graduate work in Nintendo, he really enjoys reading and math, and is very creative at assembling LEGO contraptions. I am hopeful that he possesses, like his grandfathers, the elusive, generation-skipping, “Handyman” gene so that there is someone in the house who can fix things.

Nicole is in first grade. She has a fierce determination to read and write RIGHT NOW. She had an excellent report card, but was rated only average in “Multicultural Awareness” – a generous assessment for someone who can’t remember which parent is Oriental and which one is Caucasian. She played girls’ soccer and loved it; her team won all but one game and Nicole scored several times in most of the games (goaltending was not over-emphasized by any of the teams.)

Christie is in her last year of pre-school. She has had many of the same teachers as her older sister who was shy and reserved in school; The usual comment after Christie’s first day is, “Well, she’s certainly different from Nicole.” While it sometimes seems like she is operating in a parallel universe, Christie is a kind-hearted and generous child – always sharing her candy with her brother and sister or coming to their defense when we threaten to banish them from the household.

Suzanne has added Hong Kong to the list of glamorous locations she travels to for Amoco (although I think some of the glamour is lost when you travel on Sunday and return on Thursday.) In addition to the birthday parties, she manages to keep track of everyone’s schedule, takes dance classes (along with Christie and Nicole) and is active in the Asian-American Bar Association.

Engine Supply had a good year – we now have almost 300 employees – nearly three times as many as when we took over in 1989. It has been fun, and spending ten days a month in Phoenix certainly makes the winters in Chicago seem a lot more bearable.

Peace.

Len, Suzanne, Stephen, Nicole, Christie
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Writer and triathlete. Member of Team USA. Three books published: American Past Time, Letting Go and Better Days. Lives in Evanston, IL with wife Suzanne.