December 2018

Fall has always been my favorite season as the temperatures decrease (even in Southern California) and the trees become colorful. The days are shorter and remind me to reflect on the year that is coming to an end. Jenk recently asked me what I wanted for Christmas; my answer was that I don’t want anything as I feel blessed by what we have – not the things, but the people in our lives. We are blessed!

Once again our year involved a fair amount of traveling. In January I flew to Bellingham, Washington to see my 95 years young Aunt Peggy for a couple of days. It was so great to see her as well as my cousins Laura, Brian and Lynda. While there Aunt Peggy and I connected to my aunt’s long-lost first cousin in France, Armine, via Skype, and the two were able to speak and see each other for the first time. There were tears of joy and lots of smiles. (Translations were made on each side of the ocean.)

In February we flew to Shanghai, China, with our friends Maria and Margarito Uribe to show them part of China before we all boarded a cruise that included ports in Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore. We all enjoyed our time together, and came home especially impressed with our time in Vietnam. We hope to go back one day. But for me a high point of the cruise was seeing 3 former students in Hong Kong. One was my student of French from the class of 1989, and the other two were Chinese students who had studied at our school in 2010 and who lived with our close friends. They all now live in Hong Kong and shared their journeys since we last met.

Two weeks after our return from Asia we again headed to China, this time with a group of students and administrators from Saugus High School to our sister-school in Xi’an, China. With 16 students and 4 adults it was our biggest group to date. Many of our group were able to see students who had lived with them in Santa Clarita. There were lots of happy reunions. Jenk and I accompanied the group to Beijing at the end of their short exchange trip, then returned to Xi’an where we had time to visit our friends from the last 14 years of our exchange.

The summer of 2018 was the first year that I have not worked or traveled with students since the early part of the century. Luckily we were here when Marc managed to tear his Achilles tendon in June, followed by surgery and a slow recovery. Thankfully he is back to walking nearly normally after months of physical therapy though, as he told his students, his mother had to take him to school just like theirs,. Also this summer we welcomed our French cousins (the daughter and family of Armine – mentioned above). We invited as many cousins who could come and had a great time.

In August we welcomed what will probably be the last group of exchange students from China to Saugus High School for the fall semester. Then at the end of the month Jenk and I flew to Chicago to meet my German “sister” Margit and her husband Christian for a 12-day driving trip around the Great Lakes. We had a wonderful trip which included visiting the place where my father’s mother was born in northern Michigan. At the end of our adventure together we celebrated being “sisters” for 50 years as Margit had arrived to stay with us in September of 1968!

On the day of their return to Germany Jenk and I met our friends John and Randi Cantlay for 5 wonderful days in Chicago. None of us had ever been there and we enjoyed the city, even taking in a baseball game at Wrigley Field! Upon their departure Jenk and I spent two days in Dearborn visiting the amazing Henry Ford complex, then went to Niagara Falls – also a first! The Canadian side was amazing – and wet, but we enjoyed views from both sides of the border. We also visited the FDR Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York, and toured West Point. On our last day in New York state we took a train to NYC to see our friend Claude Henault who had flown in from France to take care of her daughter who had been in an accident. This was definitely unplanned, but gave Jenk his first experience of the “Big Apple”. During this trip Jenk also added his 49th state visited when we went to Plymouth Notch, Vermont to see the home of President Calvin Coolidge. In Maine and New Hampshire we saw many new places and beautiful scenery. We enjoyed a couple of days with friends near Boston before flying home – in time for me to leave with the annual trip with the Chinese students to Yosemite, Sacramento, San Francisco and Monterey.

We celebrated Thanksgiving this year without Beth and Nathan who were traveling in Cambodia and Vietnam, but we did have their new puppy with us during their absence. Both are doing well, and will be with us for Christmas. Beth got a promotion at Aston Martin this year which will have her relocating to Austin, Texas in the near future. Luckily she can return home one week each month. I guess this will mean more trips to Texas!

Marc continues to teach chemistry at Saugus and also serves in several leadership positions at the school and in the district. This year a small group is rewriting curriculum so he has had to work many weekends. Right after Christmas he will be flying to Finland to meet his godson, Bjorn. Bjorn is the son of Katianna who lived with us from 1994-5. Marc missed the baptism but will have time to get to know Bjorn and to spend time with Katianna and her family. (I have known Katianna’s father since we were both in high school!)

We hope this letter finds you in good health and enjoying life. We treasure our friends and family.

Merry Christmas and Happy 2019!