Merry Christmas, Dear Friends!
In lieu of a Christmas letter, here’s a recap of our year:
January Bill breaks his ankle and makes a nest in the family room. Friends bring meals, walk dogs, visit - and haul his ass upstairs a couple of times a week for much needed showers. Ann waits on Bill with complete devotion and unflagging energy.
February More of the same, except Ann tires of the routine and spends time walking the dogs just to get out of the house. An estimate to turn the downstairs half bath into a bathroom with shower is outrageous and prohibitive. We decide to move from our split level to a flat house. When the housing market improves in, oh, thirty or forty years.
March The cast comes off. Bill spends hours at physical therapy. The weather breaks. Ann continues to walk dogs, glad not to be cooped up in the house with Bill. Bill uses a cane for everything but dancing.
April We get an Obama sign and put it in the front yard. The campaign lasts too long, but we support Illinois’ favorite son.
May Grandson David returns from his freshman year at Beloit College. He has survived and will return in the fall. We are glad to see that the boy who left for college returns a young man.
June Bill goes to Vermont to the Clockhouse Writers’ Conference for a week. Daughter Shannon gets a job in a western suburb and decides to sell her house in Homewood to avoid a three-hour round trip commute. We are sad.
July Ann goes with Bill to Centrum Writers’ Conference in Port Townsend, WA. She meets his west coast friends and sight sees. On a whale watching excursion Ann loses several pounds in the rough seas, but she sees a pod of humpback whales.
August Grandsons’ dad Tim gets married. Bill is Best Man. Ann is Mother of the Groom. She is beautiful, the bride is beautiful, the groom is beautiful, the wedding is beautiful, and the reception is beautiful. In his tux, Bill has Joan Crawford shoulders.
September It rains. With Travel Buddies Ted and Carol we drive to Spring Green, WI, where we take tours of Frank Lloyd Wright Stuff before returning to Homewood. Rains cancel Chicago architectural tours and trips to the Indiana Dunes, but we enjoy a leisurely liquid lunch at a local brewery.
October The presidential campaign is in full swing. We record television programs on the DVR and fast forward through the commercials, especially the political ones.
November Barack wins. Bill is downtown on election night. The energy of Chicago changes in a snap. People on the train are ebullient, a word we don’t get to use very often.
We have much to be thankful for. We participate in the Free Hugs Campaign in front of the Art Institute the day before Thanksgiving. And on Thanksgiving we go to friend Theresa’s for a wonderful dinner.
December The first snow falls on December 1, and the dogs go wild with joy. We bake cookies with grandchildren, one of our few touches of Americana. It’s cold, and the flamingo in the front yard wears a fuzzy red scarf, another touch - of something. . .
Merry Christmas!
Happy Chanukah!
And a Happy, Prosperous, Healthy New Year!
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