2024 Holiday Letter from Michael and Lenora

 

Holiday Greetings from Michael and Lenora to start your 2025! Happy New Year!

 

Dear Beloveds,

 

Nobody likes holiday letters that are thinly veiled excuses for parents to brag on their kids. And, unless the trip turned out worse than Planes, Trains and Automobiles, narratives about trips are boring. So, you are really not going to like this holiday letter as it has both! Some years, though, just leave no other alternative. You will see why in a moment.

You figured it couldn’t be that bad and kept reading? Good, as 2024 was, in many ways, ‘same old’ for us this year. The things that brought us satisfaction in 2023 continued to do so in 2024 and no offense will arise from touching on a few.

Music brings joy to our lives, and we experienced music in various ways throughout the year. We both sing with the SATB choir at our Unitarian Universalist congregation. And we both are in auditioned choruses in the larger community. Michael sings with the Oak City Sound Barbershop Harmony chorus and serves as their Treasurer. Lenora sings with the Concert Singers of Cary whose concerts feature curated choral gems from a variety of genres. Both groups put on multiple public concerts during the year. Michael also sings the songs of the Doo Wop era with a group at our Over-55 community, the highlight being their two-night sold out concert at the beginning of June each year.

In an effort to stave off dementia, we are both open to new experiences. This year Michael was onstage in November with the CP Performing Arts Players in Remember When, a home grown, juke box musical featuring the songs of the Sixties. For three sold out performances, Michael was a Beach Boy, one of the Doors, Neil Young, Stephen Stills, a Box Top and a Beatle. When not at the microphone, he was twisting and frugging like a teenager on American Bandstand. His back took weeks to recover!

Speaking of exertion, we both worked on remaining physically active. Lenora worked out in some way virtually every day, complementing the gym and the pool with 5-mile walks. She was able to finally undo all of the deleterious effects brought about by COVID’s enforced restrictions. Michael continued to work out twice a week with a personal trainer, strengthening the core muscles to offset the slow progression of his CMT disease.

We exercised our minds regularly as well. Lenora was again an avid reader in her two ongoing book groups and pursued other outlets for her talents including church board work. Michael pursued his writing as a Worship Associate at church and through participating in several writing groups. As lifelong learners, both of us took courses from OLLI. He also continued his three-year streak of completing the NY Times crossword puzzle each day.

Travel is both same old and exciting for us. Carefully planned, it brings significant mental stimulation as well. In the spring, we spent a week in Washington, DC. We had taken the kids there when they were young, but COVID forced us to repeatedly cancel planned trips focusing on our interests. When our schedule allows, we try to arrive at a museum early and generally stay until the docents chase us out through the gift shop. We got timed entry tickets for the African American Museum and the Holocaust Museum and caught the National Portrait Museum, the Vietnam Memorial, and other sights/sites.

Our international trip was a tour of Ireland using Tauck as they had treated us well in Italy. We did a counterclockwise loop of the country beginning and ending with extra days in Dublin, We were blown away by how nice the Irish are as a people, how green everything is (50 Shades of Green according to the jingle), and how much history there is to grasp, a lot of which differs from what was taught when we were going through school.

Summers in North Carolina are hot, so we cope by getting out of Dodge. This year, escaping entailed a 5-week road trip. We started in Cincinnati visiting Lenora’s family. We then went to Cleveland for the weeklong International Barbershop Harmony Convention. Michael joined a special pickup chorus which competed with well-established choruses from around the world and finished a respectable 28^th. The Cleveland stay wrapped up with a day at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

We then headed west to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village in Dearborn. From there, we headed up the west coast of Michigan, through Travers City, Charlevoix, and Harbor Springs, ending up at Mackinaw City / Mackinac Island for two days. We briefly visited the Upper Peninsula then went back down the east coast of the Lower Peninsula.

The final three weeks were spent at our now annual retreat, the Chautauqua Institution. We listened to inspiring lectures, attended plays and concerts, communed with nature, connected with old friends and made new friends. Michael was very engaged with the literary programs, taking two courses, being chosen to read one of his essays at a public event, and having another essay awarded first prize the annual Friends of the Chautauqua Writers Center Prose literary contest.

Diverting for a moment, 2024 found Lenora continuing to enjoy good health while Michael found his mobility increasingly challenged. The Giant’s Causeway in Ireland was an example of where the rocky terrain was just too much. Excessive sitting on the road trip caused the arthritis in his hip to flare up which was then exacerbated by the need to walk to venues at Chautauqua. A couple cortisone shots helped and Lenora reports that Michael no longer has, but still is, a pain in the butt.

Speaking of pain, now comes the painful part for you dear reader. We took two other trips of note in 2024, trips which were both tied to significant events in our children’s lives. Elizabeth and Evan are both thriving and both experienced major life changes in 2024 which in turn enriched our lives immeasurably.

Lenora took a 10-day trip back to her old stomping grounds in Seattle. She would be living in Seattle if she hadn’t fallen in love with and thrown her lot in with Michael 40 years ago. The reason for the trip was helping settle Elizabeth into her beautiful apartment in the gentrifying town of Woodinville, WA. Elizabeth completed her postdoctoral fellowship in Utah this summer and, in the fall, started her new, full-time position as a tenure track professor in Mathematics at the Bothel campus of the University of Washington. The exciting news is that Ace, her foster child in Utah, is permanently joining her in Washington. We are thrilled that we continue to have Ace, who will turn 20 in the spring, in our lives as our favorite grandchild.

In December, we traveled to Montana to celebrate the destination wedding joining Evan with our new daughter, Taylor. It was a joyous, magical, storybook wedding at a resort located near the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park. The snow-covered Rockies made a stunning backdrop for the wedding photos. Guests were able to ski at nearby Big Sky, visit the Park, or luxuriate at the spa. While the newlyweds were off on their exotic / romantic honeymoon, we dog sat their Bernedoodle, Montana, at their New York City apartment. We took advantage of the theater district location to see six Broadway shows, including the exceptionally talented Audra McDonald in Gypsy, and two Christmas specials. We got together with old friends and saw the Christmas lights which always seem brighter in NYC.

2024 was not all high points, it also brought losses. Dear Carmon, Lenora’s sister-in-law Rose’s mother passed around Thanksgiving. We lost Ken, a next-door neighbor on Thanksgiving Day. Other friends passed during the year. The toughest loss for Michael was Maia, his writing group leader and influential muse, who lost her battle with cancer in July. Other friends continue their battles with health issues, and we hold all of them in our hearts as we transition into 2025.

Each year has Yin and Yang, dark and light; 2024 was no exception. Fortunately, the Yang, the light, was brilliant and left us at the end of the year on an emotional high. Family and friends remain important to us which is why you are getting this. Yes, admittedly we did take this opportunity to brag about our good fortune and that of our children. More importantly, though, we thank all of you for being part of our lives this year and in the past. What we ask of 2025 is that it be as uplifting for you as 2024 was for us.

May you each have the satisfaction of a life well lived, one marked by meaningful events, invigorating experiences and stimulating connections with others.

 

Love,

Michael and Lenora