Christmas 2012

Dear Friends and Family,

At the Haws household, this has been a year of odd coincidences and miraculous occurrences.  We have discovered that not only do Charlotte, Betsy, and I share the exact same shoe size, but unbeknownst to each other, we also have been using the same three word password—no kidding, to the letter– which I would share except that Charlotte has declared that disclosure would destroy her life. Suffice to say, it involves the continuous consumption of iconic American pastries—not Twinkies.

Charlie and I celebrated our  wedding anniversary on the very same day and in the very same place—Sun Valley, Idaho—where the journey began.  It was a lovely week and included a day organized by Betsy at Red Fish Lake where Pete and Ben caught and released eighteen fish, or maybe they caught the same really stupid fish eighteen times. No one is sure. The fish isn’t talking.

In April Charlotte moved to Portland, Oregon “where young people go to retire,” but not Charlotte who is diligently working in a large gynecological-oncology practice.  Half of her income goes to student loans which will finally be repaid when she’s white haired, but she is not deterred because she loves her job; in particular, Dr. Tseng, a hilarious doctor Charlie’s age, who has assigned himself the task of being Charlotte’s mentor and life coach. Thank Heaven.  Charlotte has lots of Dr. Tseng stories, but our favorite is his entry into an exam room occupied by a cervical cancer patient. His opening remark was, “Well, Mary, let’s get to the bottom of your bottom.” Obviously, he and Charlotte are kindred spirits.

Betsy has left the world of corporate law to work for Salt Lake City as a civil litigator. Not only has Betsy become very stylish, she also argued her first case before the State Supreme Court, and you can be certain her mother was in the audience critiquing her performance.  Her office is in the old City County building (haunted by five ghosts—no relation) where my grandfather worked when I was a little girl. There’s some symmetry there. Bets ran her first triathlon in July. I was her Sherpa.

Pete continues to be beset by the difficulties of managing a busy pharmacy.  He was horrified last summer to discover that in addition to being unable to alphabetize and spell instructions on labels correctly, none of the techs could pass the naturalization test.  No one knew the answers to the first three or four questions, like what country the colonists fought in the Revolutionary War.  So now, Pete is conducting an afterhours seminar on American Civics for his staff.

Andy and Nollie have a new baby daughter, Lauryn Elizabeth, obviously named after Lauren Bacall  . . . and Elizabeth after Andy’s sister, my aunt, Charlie’s sister, Charlie’s grandmother, Bess Dunn, and the Queen of England. So the little namesake will be theatrical, adversarial, creative, loyal, lovely, flamboyant, and regal. I think Andy has his bases covered.  Good luck, Baby.  Ben and Lucy, her older siblings, alternate between being completely adorable and totally berserk.

Andy also purchased a piano. He told me he felt like a void in his life has been filled.  It’s grossly unfair that after spending umpteen hours sharing the piano bench with four children as they practiced, I can’t read a note, play a Christmas carol, or hum a tune on key.  I keep thinking that if I could just rearrange the furniture in my head, I might find the missing piano. What are the chances?

We feel very grateful this year. We have all the organs we started out with a year ago, and no bones or treaties were broken. We haven’t lost any of the people we love. We’ve forgotten what it is we don’t remember, so who cares?  Merry Christmas anyway! And a happy whatever it is that comes at the first of the year.