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2009 Family Holiday Letter

21 December 2009

Winter Solstice greetings to our extended family!

2009 has been a year of medical challenges for our clan. This time last year, Muriel was recuperating from total knee replacement surgery (she's now fully recovered, pain-free, and more active than ever with her new knee functioning nominally). This past May, a day before his 63rd birthday, Paul underwent totally unexpected quad cardiac bypass surgery. (His recovery has also gone incredibly smoothly, and between improved diet and a thrice-weekly cardiac rehab exercise regimen, is now in better shape than any time in the last forty years). Last week, Paul's mom Phyllis, a young 88, underwent hip replacement surgery (she's still in the rehab hospital as this is being written, but sounds to be recovering quite well). In between surgeries, we scheduled some tooth extractions (four wisdom teeth for Bryn, and two upper teeth for Curran, in preparation for upcoming orthodontic procedures). Even though Aubrey, Devin, and Erin have been able to avoid all but routine medical care this year, our medical expenses vastly exceeded our retirement income. Thus, you can see that health care reform is on our minds as the US Senate grapples with some major issues

Despite the above challenges, Paul and Muriel still managed to travel extensively together over the past year: to Boston (February), Long Island (April), and New Jersey (November) for science fiction conventions (the latter with four of the boys), to Santa Clara (March) for the Hertz Foundation Symposium, to Pittsburgh (July) for the Mensa Annual Gathering, and to Rochester just a week ago for Hertz Foundation interviews (and to visit Aubrey and Haley). Add to this Paul's solo travels to West Virginia, Lancaster, Washington DC, Heidelberg, Berlin (where he got to watch Andrew at work in the recording studio), San Francisco (where he was pleased to take in Erika's latest show), and Daejon, Korea! One wonders if he's ever going to slow down (he says not).

We have two engagements to announce! Devin and Samantha have set an April 2010 wedding date, and Aubrey and Haley are planning for an unspecified date after he finishes grad school. We don't see how either couple can possibly top Erika's wedding of last year, but are looking forward to both nonetheless.

At 16, Erin is now driving, and has completed all merit badge requirements for Eagle Scout. He needs to get busy on his Eagle project. Hopefully, we will have the family's second Eagle ceremony some time in 2010.

At age 19, Curran graduated from the Williamsport Area High School in June, but because of his disability, will be allowed to continue there until age 21, taking mostly vocational courses. He has a new personal care aide who gets him ready for school every morning; Karen is both patient and firm, giving him needed support without undermining his independence. We are grateful to have her in our extended family.

Devin is now 21, working part-time at a Customer Support job in upstate New York, and was enrolled for classes at Corning Community College. He and Samantha are currently living with her parents. Muriel thinks we need to give up on either of them getting degrees.

Aubrey (23) did genomic research at Cornell University over the summer, and now needs to write his Masters Thesis at Rochester Institute of Technology. At his May graduation, he'll be granted an MBA to go with his MS. He's looking into Doctoral programs.

Bryn is still struggling to find direction. He's dropped out of college and is trying to get back in, works only part-time, stays with us a couple of nights a week, with his father a couple more, and appears not to have a place, or a plan, of his own. We wish there were more we could do to provide him guidance and goals, but at age 25, he has to work that out for himself.

In case you haven't heard, Paul's baby sister Era and her husband Mike are expecting! After 20 years of marriage, they finally decided that maybe it was going to last, so they could start a family. They're due in April (Era will be 39 - talk about putting things off to the last minute!) Paul is going out to San Diego for a conference in February, so will of course visit them at their Oceanside home.

Because of FAA medical certification issues following his heart surgery, Paul had to say goodbye to a longtime family member, and sold his beloved Beech Sierra after 30 years and 3,000 hours of flying. But, all is not lost. Under the new Sport Pilot rules, there is a class of aircraft that can legally and safely be flown without an FAA medical certificate, and Paul has just bought one of these: an Evektor SportStar light-sport aircraft manufactured in the Czech Republic. He takes delivery in about two weeks, and is using this plane to launch his latest venture, a Sport Pilot flight school at Lock Haven PA. AvSport of Lock Haven will start operation in January 2010 (or as soon as the snow melts).

May 2010 be the year we see improved health, and meaningful health care reform! Our best wishes to you all,

Paul, Muriel, and the kids


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