The Christmas Letter is Baaaaaack...

Consider this our Christmas letter! I think my last one was a print edition, sometime back in the ought-two's.... You can click on pics to make them biggerer.

I may have mentioned before that 2022 has been a year. My mom and dad died a month apart in late spring, and we also lost our 40+-year-old parrot, our 14-year-old dog, and several friends. It sometimes felt like a mass exodus. I had been caretaking with Mom, who's lived with us for the past seven years, full time throughout 2021, and intensively, including Hospice care, since August of last year. Between the pandemic and caring for Mom, I rarely left home. But I surprised even myself with my fortitude; I [mostly] didn’t melt down or curl into a fetal ball of simpering goo coated with Doritos dust. 

Mom and her babies.

Dad in his new hat!

2022 also offset my spine, shoved a vertebrae into a nerve bundle, and turned my good old Irish walks into a limping old lady’s 2-block strolls. And this year gave Ray and I Covid; I even got post-Paxlovid rebound Covid as a bonus.

But this year also gave Ray and I a lovely few days to decompress at a lake house in the beautiful Flint Hills of Kansas, where we walked, kayaked, and had a relaxing pontoon ride with friends (and Pretzel). 

2022 also gave us a road trip to Ohio, where I officiated at my youngest brother’s wedding to a woman who’s already long been a treasured part of our family. The bride’s family is Russian, so the festivities were a joy-filled and memorable Russo-Bohunk-Irish potpourri of singing, dancing, hugging, a little musical theatre, and many, many vodka toasts.

Kayaking is no laughing matter.

We ARE in Kansas, Toto.

Doris and Lois give last-minute tips to the bride & groom.

This year also gave my three brothers and I three occasions to sing together. This is remarkable, considering we’ve all been musicians separately throughout our lives but hadn’t sung together since the rounds (“Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” “All Things Shall Perish,” “White Coral Bells”) we were forced to sing on family car trips when we were little kids.

This year also brought Ray and I two new furry buddies – Pretzel Mac Tier, an Aussiedoodle pup, and Fiona Diane, a chihuahua mix pup. They’re best pals now, and their shenanigans (mostly) bring us great joy. This brings our dog total to 4; two of these are 14 and not in great health, so we seem to be running a nursery/assisted living home for hounds at the moment.

L to R: Pretzel, Pedro, Oprah, Fiona

In September, I got to fly to California to meet up with two women who’ve been dear friends since junior high. We were planning an epic adventure on Amtrak from Cali to Omaha, our hometown, until the railroad strike “derailed” our plans and forced us to fly back. We had a great time anyway, and we’re looking forward to the next reunion.

Friends since McMillan Junior High in Omaha, a couple years back.

After retiring in May of 2021 to take care of Mom, I went back to the classroom this fall, teaching two creative writing classes for our Little Town U, one online and one on campus. And while it felt good to haul out the teacherly chops, I’ve re-retired after December so I can spend more time writing, singing, and not-grading.

I’m also starting to work on my return trip (AT LAST!) to Ireland sometime next year, this time with Ray, thanks to a gift from my brother and sister-in-love.

Ray and I are slowly turning Mom’s room into the music parlour, with plants, instruments, extra seating, and a musical wall quilt made for the room by Ray’s sister. We’re looking forward to musical salons/hootenannies in the future, which Mom would love. I suspect she’ll be around for those, reminding me to dust the piano.

So, by the skin of our teeth, we (mostly) made it through this year (and the previous two, since the start of Covid Pendem-onium, really). And we made it through, surprisingly, with a growing sense of gratitude for every. single. blessing....our 4 kids are all strong, employed, talented, kindhearted, healthy, and close enough to visit regularly, and the ones who want to be are happily partnered; our six grandkids are healthy and happy, including our newest 2021 treasure, Wendel; Ray, an exceptional drummer, has an extraordinary group of musicians to play with at our Little Town Watering Hole, a beloved weekly event we call “church,” and he just finished up three shows across South Dakota with the Fiddles for Christmas show, featuring 9 musicians/singers, including three famous (and slightly notorious) SD fiddlers; I have two poetry books published and two manuscripts finished and ready to send out; I have a new Telecaster, Buttercup, thanks to my son’s birthday surprise; we’re safe and warm; our blizzard larder is stocked; and our dogs like us. I’m not sure we could get any luckier.

Fiddles for the Holidays - Ray on drums

Cover illustrations by my bro Joe

Max and family

Dulce and family

L to R: Jesse, Ryan, Max, Ray...Max's 2021 wedding!

Ryan and family

As 2022 lets us all go, may you pay attention to and be buoyed up by whatever joys—big or small—you have. May Ray and I, and all of you, send out our collective calls for peace and enough food & shelter for our global brothers and sisters. And may the supply chain debacle never affect our access to Doritos. Happy happy!

From our beautiful family to yours!