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| Not This Year |
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR! We hope the upcoming year will be filled with joy, prosperity, and good health for all of us.
2023 was a Dickens of a year—you know, the best of times and the worst of times. Anne and I have had our joys and our challenges. Anne’s biggest challenge was a left shoulder replacement. She met that challenge head on—she did her PT (physical torture) with a positive attitude and exceeded her doctor’s expectations for full recovery. Her golf game is now as strong as it’s ever been.
Her second challenge was me dealing with Parkinson’s Disease and spinal stenosis. I’m not quite as good a patient as she is and I’m not as good at doing my exercises as she does. The challenge for me is to accept the fact that I can’t do things like I used to, but also to believe that I can still do things. I still do enjoy golf, but need to accept that I’m a different golfer than I used to be. That said, I did get a hole-in-one in November at our club.
As big as our challenges may be, our joys are bigger. We have each other, for 55 years, and are still each other’s best friend. Of course we still golf and travel. And although our travel is mostly smaller trips, we did get to the coast a couple of times and spent a lovely 12 days in the Santa Fe and Taos areas of New Mexico.
Our fall has been occupied by getting ready to downsize and move to a single floor house (we currently live on three floors). We really like the Garden Homes at Hope Village in Canby, an adult independent living community, and are waiting for a unit to become available. While we wait Anne has taken charge of downsizing 38 years in our Canby home to a two bedroom and single garage. It’s a new and uncomfortable experience for Anne the Collector.
Another joy we share is a great clan of friends and family who are always around to help us enjoy the good times and there to help us through the not so good times. Our hope for 2024 is that we have the strength to face its challenges and appreciate the joys it may bring.
Love and Best Wishes to All, Bob and Anne
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| Golf at 32 degrees, taken last weekend. |
