2000

                                                                         

                                                                                         
                                                                              November 26, 2000
Dear Friends & Family,

I was flying home from Phoenix for Thanksgiving late Tuesday night. I arrived about midnight and I found a letter on our kitchen table that our eleven-year old daughter, Christie, had written to her Mom. Suzanne had gone to Christie’s parent teacher conference earlier that evening and the letter was Christie’s pre-emptive mea culpa.

She told her Mom she was sorry that she had received a bad grade in “Remembering”. She promised that she was going to do better. She had a plan. When she got home from school instead of watching the “Cartoon Network” she was going to tape her ‘toons and get right on her homework. She was going to spend more time reading and she was going to get plenty of exercise. I think she covered almost everything that we had complained about her in the last six months. (Well not everything).

Maybe it was the three of four Chardonnays that I had on the flight home (United’s wine glasses are really small), but the letter really touched me. She is such a funny and creative child, I hoped that we had not squelched her spirit. I went up to her room and she was curled up asleep in a big quilt on her bed. I leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek and said “Christie I love you even if you can’t remember stuff”. She opened her eyes wide and said “Dad your breath smells!” So much for my Hallmark moment.

Christie’s older sister, Nicole, turns thirteen in a few days – a teenager at last. She is in 7th grade. She plays Soccer for Team Evanston in the spring and fall and also ran track this spring. She insists that her Track career is over, but I am not sure – although if it is I won’t miss those three-hour road trips to Dekalb. There are a ton of really funny stories that I could tell you about Nicole, but I don’t want to annoy her (which is really easy to do), because I figure anyone that has an allowance of $12 a week and spends $30 a week on teen magazines, shampoos, moisturizers, conditioners, makeup and nail polish and ends up with $20 left over is someone who will be able to take care of me in my later years (which are closer than I want to believe).

Stephen turns sixteen next month, his second year at Evanston Township High School. He took Driver’s Education this fall and I have been driving with him on weekends. It is easier than teaching him to ride a bike, I guess. And so far I have remained under perfect control – except for the first time that he drove his friends to school and he carefully parked at the school curb and put the car in Reverse instead of Park while he and his friends all jumped out and headed for class. He spends as much on the Movies as Nicole does on her beauty accessories, but he is not as creative with his money management as she, so he actually seems to use up all of his allowance. He is doing very well in school, so Parent Teacher Conferences are no where near as interesting as Christie’s.

Nicole wanted to make sure that I reported this year that her Mom is now the shortest person in the family since Christie grew four inches this year and shot past her. Suzanne has complained that I always write about her long work hours and her QVC shopping. And she cautioned me to not make any disrespectful comments about her beloved employer BP Amoco – oops I mean “bp” the environmentally sensitive hundred billion dollar “energy” company for whom she has worked for twelve years since starting in 1993. Seriously, her office has been really accommodating, as she had to take several weeks this summer to care for her parents.

Suzanne and I have been very fortunate to have had the support of wonderful parents, who have also been great Parents-in-law. Last week both of our fathers’ were hospitalized on the same day. My father had a non-surgical heart procedure and is doing well and Suzanne’s Dad, who has Alzheimer’s, was admitted to a Nursing Home as his daily needs were more than Suzanne’s Mom, who is recovering herself from a back injury, could manage. Suzanne’s parents are devout Christians who have given tirelessly over the years to their church and community. I could not say enough about the support that they have given me over the last thirty years.

Alzheimer’s is a cruel disease. When we visited this summer, I was helping Suzanne to go through some of Fred’s papers from his many years as an Engineer working for GE. As I looked at the patents he had been granted and the awards he had received, I wondered if those responsible for caring for this frail and gentle man would realize what a remarkable man he is. I thought, how easy it is to dismiss the elderly and the infirm. How easy it is to forget that they had real lives. Lives of distinction - and in Fred’s case - Heroism. Mixed in with all of his work materials, I found this citation from the War Department:

For gallantry in action on 26 August 1944, in the vicinity of **,**. Private First Class Sawada volunteered to act as lead scout for a four-man patrol assigned the mission of reconnoitering the Southern ** River bank. The night was dark and very quiet. While moving through a sparse vineyard he suddenly motioned his comrades to stop. He then advanced ten yards with his patrol leader. At this point they heard an enemy patrol advancing toward them. He held his fire until his patrol was observed by the enemy. Then, as the enemy patrol prepared to take up positions, he opened fire. In the resulting skirmish, the entire enemy patrol of seven men was either killed or wounded. Soon, six or seven enemy machine guns, attracted by the fire fight swept the field with grazing fire. When the patrol was ordered to withdraw, Private First Class Sawada remained behind to cover their movement with his fire. He silenced one automatic weapon on his right flank, then engaged another. Only after the patrol had reached a covered position did he join his comrades. The determined aggressiveness, courage and initiative displayed by Private First Class Sawada enabled his patrol to withdraw without suffering a single casualty.

Awarded Silver Star February 10, 1945.

Thanks, Fred – for everything.

We wish you all a safe and Joyful Holiday season.

             
Len, Suzanne, Stephen, Nicole & Christie

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