It was a tough year, in many ways. H & A are in transitional years, and rapidly working their way towards adulthood, with all of the lessons learned by painful experience that that entails. We moved houses for the third time in two years (fourth, if you count my apartment). Linda injured her foot in the early part of the year, and is only now able to start hiking and exercising again. At work, there seemed to be only hard decisions: firing some staff for poor performance, laying off others, canceling projects as the company refocused, restructuring based on the yet unclear new business strategy. Family and friends wrestled with cancer. In November, Dad died under circumstances I don’t think we’ll ever fully understand. This week, I learned that my sister Kristin lost what would have been her third child. He was due in February.
Still, 2007 wasn’t all bad. The family and extended family is in a good place. Gail finished her doctorate program and is living and working in San Jose again. Ken, Kristin’s husband, made Captain with Southwest and they are planning a move to Texas. Tandy and Barbara are heading to Arizona for a few months, trading snow for sunshine. Heather has a serious boyfriend. He treats her very well and she’s learning to put other’s needs first. Adam is finishing up what will be his hardest semester of high school, and has done well. He scored in the 97th percentile on his PSATs, an excellent result when half the test is math, a subject that doesn’t come easy for him. He has his driving permit and I haven’t worn out the rug on the passenger side where the brake peddle would be. Linda’s foot is much better and she has some good friends here in SoCal now. We even hosted a small holiday party (yes, I know–stop laughing). As the kids have become more independent, she and I have been able to spend a lot more time and attention on each other. My job with Amgen had grown, which will bring more challenges but also more influence.
Here’s to 2008. May it be a better year for all of us.