Happy Holidays, Family & Friends

Happy Holidays, Family & Friends

Another lap around the sun and here we are again, celebrating life and growth while mourning what has passed. What can be learned from this test? Things happen. Life is hard. Life is short. And sweet.

Zelda moved into her first solo apartment in the heart of Clintonville, with her cat Nora the only roommate. She joined a rowdy bunch of co-workers on the McGraw-Hill soccer team and established her street cred by running in the annual downtown 5k Beer Run.   

Jessi traveled to Peru with his friend Leah in September, trekking around Machu Picchu and checking out the local culture in Lima. His band Magnets toured the South and Midwest in July, then returned to New York and promptly split up. He joined a jazz-inflected punk band Spite House and moved to the Brooklyn neighborhood Cypress Hills.

Gven has maintained a demanding schedule of stitching, walking the dog, and teaching people to sit and breathe. She was site coordinator for two Art Quilt Network retreats, in April and October, and continues to teach yoga all over town.

Sven was re-organized from Policy Analyst (aka editor) in Risk Management to Servicing Guideline Control Analyst (aka editor) in Change Management at MegaBank. He recently joined a meditation group at St. Mathew’s Episcopal church around the corner from his base congregation at Java Central.

Gven and Sven enjoyed an early-summer week in the UP visiting old friends and getting to know Grand Marais, Michigan. They celebrated a late-summer birthday weekend with Jessi in New York, walking East and West Village neighborhoods, exploring the Metropolitan Museum and Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and eating Bengali, Caribbean and Ukrainian food. 

In the garden, habanero peppers, hosta, geraniums, and redbuds flourished; roses, tomatoes and peaches, not so much. Om Shanty, our little house on the prairie, has a new roof, windows, door jambs, and a new dining room table. Many more projects still to come! Our motto: Om is where the art is.

Sadness followed upon sadness in the Golly clan when Sven’s father Charles breathed his last breath in March. Sven’s brother Rock and Rev. J. Archer spoke eloquently at the memorial service at Fairfield Glade United Methodist Church, and there was not a dry eye in the house. He was Grandpa, Dad, Charles, or just Golly, depending on who was talking. He was strong-willed, loyal, judgmental, loving, methodical, tender, tough, playful, practical, tenacious, frugal, generous, critical, competitive and patient. What can you say? It was his time. All things are transitory, and old soldiers never die, they just check out of God’s hotel.     

Best wishes for a warm and bright holiday season and a year of abundance to come. Work hard, play hard, and then take a nap.

Peace on Earth, Gven and Sven