Greetings!
There's an old
joke about a baseball game: What inning is it? The eighth. Who's
ahead? They're tied, 0-0. Oh, I guess I didn't miss anything then. A
lot has happened to us over the past two years, but the end of 2004
finds us (more or less) where we were at the end of 2002, in our
home in Kalamazoo, Michigan. (By the way, if click on the pictures,
you'll get a bigger version.)
Will had some interesting job possibilities in California and the West in 2003. When Bess's father Jerry passed away in April, we decided to explore these--seriously enough that Will resigned from his teaching position at Kalamazoo College. The possibilities didn't pan out, but a good job offer came from the Canadian National Research Council in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Will moved to Canada at the beginning of 2004; Bess and the kids stayed behind as Bess readied the house for sale. Will loved the job, but it looked difficult to get permission for Bess to work, selling and buying a house was going to be more expensive that we'd thought, etc., etc., and we decided not to move to Canada. Providentially, another opportunity arose: a former office mate of Will's from Northwestern was looking for someone to hack on robot software at NASA's Ames Research Center, and Will had been recently doing very closely related work. Furthermore, Will's been able to work remotely, so our family has been able to remain in Kalamazoo (Will travels to California once a month or so; you can see the project site at http://human-factors.arc.nasa.gov/apex/).
In the midst
of all this, Mark was finishing high school. Mark is now a
freshman at Michigan State University, where he is on track to
major in business, after deciding against a career in
architecture. He is learning a lot both in class and out of
class, and we're glad that he's not too far away--New Brunswick
would have been some1200 miles away! You can tell that he's the
coolest of us four. Jane also started a new school this year--her
sixth grade class was moved to the Maple Street School for the
Arts. This is just down the street from our home. She loves to
read, loves her dog Benji, and was the assistant stage manager
this fall for the Kalamazoo Civic Youth Theatre production of
Raggedy Anne and Andy. With Mark in college, Bess is working as a
laboratory technician at Kalsec, a local spice extraction
company. She is working with plant breeders to make redder
paprika and hotter chili peppers. She's enjoying the challenge of
the work and her co-workers.
We've been
at Pine Grove Mennonite Church for a while now. Although we have
to travel to Battle Creek to attend, we're glad for the friendly
people, the youth group, and preaching and action from a
Mennonite perspective. Other snapshots: fun trips to Ithaca (New
York), Manitoulin Island and Denver; the joy of watching a garden
Bess thought she was leaving behind grow; Mark winning a
state-wide award for an architecture project; Will singing shape
note music; Jane enthusiastically jumping rope, playing video
games, telling stories and writing poems; Bess's faithful visits
to Grandma Jane Wend in her Alzheimer's care unit; striving to
get Kerry elected (he won Michigan, at least); Bess and Will
celebrating 25 years of marriage (June 17, 2003); Mark traveling
to Japan with Kalamazoo College's Study Asia program in the
summer of 2003.
Merry Christmas! The Fitzgeralds