Christmas 2008

November 29, 2008
Dear Family and Friends,
Thanksgiving memories are spilling over into my morning, and I thought I’d use this opportunity to reflect back on this past year for my annual Christmas letter. Last year I put together a notebook of all the letters like this that I’ve written over the past 31 years. The earliest one I found was dated 1977, copied on a ditto machine in purple ink. That letter was all about teaching in a newly integrated school. I had joined Weight Watchers for the first time that year, and Craig and I were flying off to Puerto Rico for the Christmas holidays. It’s interesting to think about all of the threads that have continued throughout my life in letters.

Teaching AP English over the last year was the peak of my career. I had eight girls who were the most like me in habits and attitude that I’ve ever taught, and we soared together as I introduced as many creative thinking strategies into my teaching as I could fathom. Every part of the course was like teaching at the graduate level, and the girls lived up to my expectations in all their writings and other products. On this note, I decided last January to let the school know I was going to retire after 33 years from teaching. I wouldn’t have wanted to go out any other way. Now that I’m able to sleep longer hours and linger in the morning over the newspaper, I’m finding that God is sending me opportunities to share my gift of teaching in new settings. I’m currently one of the mentors to a new Theresian group of spiritual women, and I look forward to the kind of "teaching" I might do where there’s no longer any grading involved. I pray God sends me others.

Travel is another thread that continues for me. My attempts over the past year to go to China never worked out, but I did make two trips to visit family and friends, and they’re my favorite way to travel anyway. I spent a week in Nebraska is August attending a family wedding and an unexpected family funeral. Being there as school was starting this year helped me realize how excited I am about retiring to just running the rental business. The trip in October to D.C. was also a celebration of that. I got to see the turning colors along Skyline Drive and to spend quality time with many people I hold dear. The real sense of celebration has occurred this past week, however. I didn’t have to grade a huge stack of 25-page projects this past week like I have for the past seven years. My drive to Nacogdoches on Thursday to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family was filled with a long list of gratitude that I’m feeling, about health, about financial security despite the upset of the markets, and about so many loving family and friends in my life.

Weight loss likewise continues to be a topic of interest in my life. I’m currently on the Curves diet. My trip to D.C. made my weight creep back up again, and I’m getting it off. I work out at Curves several times a week, and it gives structure and a social outlet to my days of now running the rental business full-time. I’m loving running the rental business. Who would have ever thought even just ten years ago that I’d be walking in these shoes? My recent success at getting a long-term tenant out of a house that she hadn’t taken care of gives me knowledge that I can face hurricanes and difficult situations with aplomb. God is right at my side.

May He be with all of us through this holy season and into the new year. God bless you in all your endeavors, and please be in touch…

Love and blessings, Linda