1998

Dear Friends & Family:

After sending Christmas letters for the last several years, I took an informal poll to see how people liked receiving them.  It was about an even split for/against.  So, my apologies to half of you.  Life is full of things that can be irritating but beat the alternative, which in this case, would be to go year after year, drifting apart and losing touch.  Can’t have that, can we?

Our year started with a new great-niece, Katie Severs, being born on New Year’s Day. Anne’s nephew, Liam, and Don’s great-nephew, Alex, turned 1 and another great-nephew, Austin Severs, was born Nov 3.  And, of course, Quinn turns 3 on Nov 16.  He is simply amazing:  powerful, passionate and very verbal.  He likes to be precise and make distinctions between words and things.  He will transition to the pre-school at day care in Nov. 

While working for WellMark/Blue Shield in 1996/1997, I had put a lot of miles on my Hyundai Excel, so it was time to replace it.  So, this year I bought my first new car, a Chrysler Town & Country minivan, which I love.  Red.  Quinn loves it, too, and it’s a breeze to get him in and out of it every day at day care.  Anne replaced her Mazda 626 with her dream car, a solid Volvo station wagon.  Black.

The main passage of the year was that my dear aunt, Esther, died of cancer.  We had known it was coming and were able to spend a lot of time together.  Esther was irreplaceable, and won’t be forgotten.  She and I shared so many interests, and she was probably the best friend a person could have.  She and Anne had grown very close, too, and Anne was with Esther and me through the whole process.

In June of each year, Anne & I usually take off for a week to celebrate her birthday.  This year we went to Madison, Wisconsin and had a great visit with our friends, Walt & Irene.  We went canoeing and had a great party for Walt’s son, William, who turned 4.  We also went to The House on the Rock, a phantasmagorical conglomeration of endless arcana that completely overwhelms.  I loved the absurdly huge organ consoles in the Organ Room.  (Go there if you like kooky stuff.)

We went to four separate family reunions and got to see our considerable extended families.  (I’ll help Quinn learn all their names.)  I also made a great discovery by finding my mom’s Norwegian cousins.  Anne and I are planning to take a belated 5^th anniversary trip to Great Britain in June, 1999.  We just might skip across the channel on a ferry and visit our newfound Viking cousins, too.

In July, I had the experience of returning to my childhood passion, the accordion.  I bought a concert accordion that had belonged to an accordion friend who is one of the finest players in the world.  It’s a wonderful beast, and I love to play tangos, folk music, polkas and classical.  Then, I looked up my 1^st accordion teacher, Jo Reynolds, to say hello.  I was interested in buying a little accordion for Quinn.  Well, Jo had died several years ago, but her husband was very gracious and invited us over.  He still had the 12-bass accordion I had started learning on in 1966, and he said that Jo would be thrilled for me to have it.  I was thrilled, too, since it was an important heirloom for me, and a perfect starter instrument for Quinn (if he wants to play it).  The real icing on the cake, though, was that I got to copy the tape of my first recital, a 1-minute tour de force called “Go ‘Way” which I played from memory when I was six years old. 

Since we’re saving our vacation time and money for The Big Trip (to Great Britain), Anne and I skipped a big summer trip and made some smaller ones.  In addition to the Madison trip, we took Quinn to Minneapolis for the Renaissance Festival.  Quinn rode on Chrissie, the elephant, and, of course, fell asleep exhausted from having too much fun.  We also made a little visit to the emergency room on that trip, since the dust at the Renaissance Festival caused Quinn some breathing trouble.  A little scary, but it turned out fine.  We also took Quinn to the Iowa State Fair.  He liked the BIG tractors the best.  Or was that Dad?

We’re finally getting some remodeling done, and it’s gone smoothly so far.  We’ve found great carpenters, and having the month of November off has really helped.  Oh, yea, I lost my job at CareMedic Systems on Oct 30.  Sort of a downsizing event, I guess.  Anyway, it was a friendly parting and has worked out really well.  I lined up a corporate training gig with USWest helping their customer service reps convert to new software. I’ll have Mondays off, so this will give me some time to finish my Microsoft Certification in the coming months.  The USWest job starts Nov 30, so I have most of Nov off, although I’ve gotten some calls and am doing some smaller consulting jobs in the meantime.

Well, another holiday letter is written.  If you’ve read this far, Thank You – you’re one of the half who likes them!  We treasure all our friends and family, and staying in touch is my favorite part of the holiday season.  Joy and peace to all of you.

Sincerely,

Don, Anne & Quinn                                                                                        515-221-9246            dcsafs@msn.com