2021 Christmas Letter

December 8, 2021

Greetings from your Northern Indiana friends,

How has the year swept by so swiftly, and to my amazement the calendar tells me it is December once again. Yet looking back I can see, if I take the time, and I seldom do, that a great deal has occurred since last I sent you a couple of pages.

The world has moved beneath COVID 19’s shadow throughout 2021, but it has moved. Even though we know that the vaccine is no silver bullet, the shots removed a weight from our shoulders we did not notice we were carrying. Except in that burden’s absence. We remain diligent, but gained a confidence that we had done our part in this crisis, and felt more at ease in our day to day life.

That confidence opened us to consider many things we had postponed and avoided for more than a year. Travel being one of them. So once we were fully vaccinated and time became available we headed south to see Nick. The timing of our first trip made things awkward. That and the rush to put our itinerary together. Yet things fell together, sorta. Memorial Day weekend, messes with reservations we needed to make and we were unable to stay in the hotel we had used on each of our trips to see our son. So a hotel twenty miles east became our base camp for the week. That was how two teetotalers ended up dropped down in Bardstown, Kentucky, the Bourbon Capital of the world.

Actually we liked Bardstown, and it didn’t matter that you could hardly “chuck a rock” and not
hit a distillery. They were everywhere. But the old town has an incredible historic district with its shops and houses of a wide variety of architecture. We took time to see the museums and met some remarkable people. Spoke with an authoress who had been part of the city council for many years. Dixie Hibbs was proud not only of the many books she had written about the local history of the area, but also the community which was her home.

Each night we drove to Elizabethtown to meet with Nick as we did our best to catch up in ways that are impossible by phone. It had been more than a year since we saw our son face to face, and those hours were priceless.

During that week we also did a bit of semi-serious hiking. Clifty Falls State Park, near Madison, Indiana was our first, but time spent in the Red River Gorge area of Kentucky filled much of our walking time. Natural Bridge is a sight to be seen and I recommend it.

After we had returned home, a few day trips made up what turned out to be a busy summer. St. Joseph and South Haven, Michigan as well as visits to Goshen, Nappanee, and Shipshewana, Indiana were delightful brief escapes from Jackie’s work and what seemed the perpetual task of the grass I needed to clip. But one of this year’s biggest changes came about in September. For after forty years of service, Jackie decided the time had come to set her white coat aside.

Retirement is a big decision and each of us come to that crossroad by our own route. But for Jackie, as it was when I gave up tending the soil in 2017, there arrived a moment when she knew it was time to pass off the baton. However these past few months, Jackie has helped out at the pharmacy a few hours a week. She’s giving vaccinations in the hope of aiding in the protection of others. Doing her part remains important to her. It is as simple and complex as that.

September was a big month for other reasons. One, the really big one was that Nick moved from
Elizabethtown, Kentucky to Arvada, Colorado, a suburb of Denver. A visit to the Colorado Mountains a couple years ago made his heart yearn for the Denver area. He found a new position and west he went. Well, late September his parents had to drive the 1100 plus miles to see how he was settling in. That’s what parents do. But we found that our son loved the place he had alighted, and that was enough for us to be happy for him.

Though Jackie had been to all fifty states, I had never been to Colorado. Oh my, what scenic wonders! We visited with Nick in the evenings and did our sightseeing throughout most of the days. Spent half a day visiting with Jackie’s Aunt Elaine. What a delightful time we shared that day. Also on a misty day, temps in the 40s, after wandering the shops of Estes Park, we were invited to the home of one of Jackie’s Purdue classmates. It was a joy to watch these two friends reconnect after forty years.

Some friendships never die.

Our trip to Colorado was a fantastic time, and come spring we hope to make our way to the Centennial State again.

The fall has moved along too swiftly as it always seems when people are busy. And Jackie and I keep occupied. As for me, 2021 found me at the keyboard whenever time allowed. Too often and too long I must admit. I have been working on the third book of the Misty Creek series. Though publication of With the Sun’s Rising is more than a year away, I have been working on an editorial revision for most of this year. Am I please with this draft? Yes, I am. Will my readers be pleased? Well, I hope so, but time will tell.

I need to wrap this up, so I will close with these few words. Jackie and I wish you a very Merry
Christmas. And that you remember the important reason we celebrate this special time of the year. For God so loved the world, that’s more than rocks, seas, and trees...it includes you and me. That He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus. Born in a stable to ordinary, but most special people. Christ came into the world to save us from ourselves. Surely Jesus’ birth deserves this special day, Christmas.

May the light and love that is Christmas, fill your home and the hearts of all you love.