Christmas Greetings from Lynn and Maury – 2023

We hope this finds you and your families well during the many holidays this time of year. This year has been a challenging year for us as we deal with health issues. Lynn's daughter, Donna, had to leave this earthly life. She loved being with her grandchildren; they loved their grandma. We miss her so very much.

Lynn and I are holding our own as we get older and adapt to new challenges. However, we both have wonderful families that keep us going. Lynn is fortunate to have her family living close by. My family members are spread out from Folsom, California, to places all over the Great Plains states, including Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Illinois, and Indiana. With Lynn and me traveling so seldom now, I don't see my family as often as we would like. However, my son, Mike, has been coming to visit me here. He and I have enjoyed taking trips down memory lane. Lynn and I did get to see our RV club "family" a couple of times this year. They are a wonderful group of people.

We have two great caregivers who help us for a few hours five days a week. They are sisters from Tonga who have become like family. They are Tiola and Nane; they've been a big help around the house. I’ve enjoyed learning about Tonga from these ladies. Nane is pronounced NAW NEE. Nane took the photo of us in our new recliners.

My grandchildren are all still in school. Wyatt is a junior in high school, while Grace and Jack are both attending college. Grace and Jack had an exciting trip to Cuba with a church group. They sent pictures of some of their activities while there. The old American cars in the photos didn't seem so old because I can remember when they were new.

Our activities have slowed down with us reading more, watching documentaries, cooking shows, and movies on television. We subscribe to several movie channels and watch the shows on our big-screen TV. Lynn's daughter Carol bought two recliners for us to be comfortable while watching, as seen in the photo at the top of this message. Watching a movie on our big screen is much less expensive, and the popcorn is much cheaper than in movie theaters. I also like that I don't have to miss any of the movie when I have to make a trip to the restroom.

I've been kept busy with a gift Lynn's daughter, Carol, gave me for Christmas last year. It is a subscription to a memoir-writing service called Storyworth. The service feeds me ideas for stories to write about my life. I had already written several short stories about things I did when I was younger. Each story is stand-alone, so it does not need any information from other stories. I came up with the idea that a story is like a quilt block. Assembling all the stories gives me a memoir of my life and a Life Quilt. When published, my Life Quilt will be in a hard-bound book at the end of my one-year subscription.

So, even though we are not traveling much, we are still finding ways to keep busy. Lynn and I have reflected on all the traveling we've done together and realize we've had an extraordinary first 14 years together. We can look forward to more years together with new adventures and challenges. We are thankful for our many blessings, especially our wonderful families. Life is good.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Happy Holidays to all