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River Of Data.com |
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December 3, 2001 Dear Family and Friends, When I (Gail) wrote last year’s letter, I was beginning my new career as Financial Advisor with American Express Financial Advisors and had every intention of working there until retirement. Things don’t always happen the way we plan. In early February, we heard rumors that changes were going to be made. About March 1st we were told that our branch would be shutting down as of April 3rd, but they would pay us through May. We were given the option of becoming independent ‘franchise’ operations, but this was much more of a time and financial commitment than I wanted to make. I also didn’t feel I had the experience to go out on my own. So, I began figuring out what to do next. First thing I did was fly down to Fresno and spend a week with mother. It was good to have a little time to help her get some things done and just hang out and visit. When I returned, I started job hunting. I have always been interested in law and law enforcement, so when I saw an ad for a position with the county sheriff in the records department, I decided to apply. After several tests and interviews, I was offered the job, pending background check and my passing a lie detector test. So nearly the entire month of March I sat home doing nothing, checking in with AE a couple of times a week and waiting for my lie detector test. I was really getting irritated with the delays. Then, one of those wonderful serendipitous events occurred that make me ‘sure’ that there is someone ‘up there’ having a hand in my life. One afternoon I got a cold call from a broker at A.G. Edwards, a brokerage firm that up to that moment I had never heard of. He asked if I had any money to invest and did I need any advice? I laughed and told him about my situation. We started talking and he asked if I had ever considered working as a broker’s associate. I said I had, as a matter of fact, since I really didn’t like the sales and cold calling involved in being a broker. He said that in his office they had five associates and one had just quit that morning. He asked if I wanted to put in an application. So I emailed him one the next day. I interviewed the following week and started work the week after that. They were very pleased with all my securities and insurance licenses, as most associates don’t have them. I work with four brokers and love the job. I get to do a lot of different things and am learning every day. A.G. Edwards is a great company to work for, and the office is just a few blocks from where I was working before. They offered me $4.00 per hour more than the sheriff’s department. Obviously, I politely told the sheriff’s department thanks but no thanks. My first day was on April 16th, tax day! The only down side to the job is the lack of time off and flexibility in the work schedule. I work a straight 8-5, with an hour for lunch, but that is really no problem. I did have a couple of trips already committed when I accepted the job and they were very good about working it out to let me take them. I did have to take a few days without pay. I made a quick trip to Fresno for Memorial Day and again for Labor Day to visit mother and Karen. Mother is more and more dependent on oxygen and is having some difficulty getting around some times. Just before Thanksgiving she fell and broke her wrist and is currently sporting a dark blue cast. But I am getting ahead of myself. Our first major trip was in July. We flew to Chicago for a week for Cinda and Henri’s wedding. Of course we saw a almost every member of Dan’s family. It was just basically a weeklong family reunion all over Chicagoland, with a wedding thrown in the middle. It was a beautiful wedding in a gorgeous outdoor garden setting. It rained the morning of the wedding, but cleared up and the ceremony went off without having to move it inside. Dan wore a tux for the first time in his life. He made an awesome figure walking her down the flowery path with his black cowboy hat and her long train flowing behind. Of course I cried and took lots of pictures. We did enjoy seeing everyone and catching up. Dan’s sister Sue and I laughed that we live just 5 hours from each other and we have to both go to Chicago to see each other! We also squeezed in a breakfast with my cousin Ed and his wife Carolyn. It was good to see them, even for just a few hours. Dan made three trips this year without me. It is strange not be going to library conferences with him any more. He was on the program at Pacific Northwest Library Association in Corvallis, Oregon, in August. Then just a couple of weeks later he flew to Los Angeles to spend three days training to become a teacher for the Bible study classes we are taking. This is our second year. It is a four-year cycle of 32 weeks each. We meet on Saturday mornings and we are really enjoying it. I never really thought I would find it so interesting. Last year they studied the prophets and Paul. I was able to start attending as soon as I didn’t have to work on Saturday mornings any more (February) Anyway, our main instructor is a local attorney in our church and Dan is the back-up instructor this year. This year we are studying the writings, which include Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Solomon and Revelations. It is a small group (8) and we are really getting to know the people and have done some other things socially with them. In October, Dan attended Idaho Library Association and brought back a beautiful print of the American Flag, mounted and framed, that he bought in an auction. It is really special and hangs over our fireplace in the den. Just like everyone else in the country, we were greatly affected by the events of September 11 and all the aftermath. It is nice to have a constant reminder of all the things that we are grateful for right in front of us every night. Dan and I have always, since we first got together, talked a lot about how lucky we are to have each other and try to make every day special and not take any thing for granted. We plan for the future, but we also take the time to enjoy life and do things together right now, since we know how truly precious life is. We were very touched to see this same sentiment welling up everywhere, all over the country. Our big trip of the year was in November. We weren’t sure how it would be after the events of the two months before, but we didn’t let that stop us. We had not gone to our timeshare in Maui last year. We traded for a week on the Oregon coast in 2000 and gave the second week to Cinda and Henri for their honeymoon on the coast of Maine this fall. We were very anxious to get back to Maui this year. We had a total of 8 flights and had to go through security 6 times. We had flown to Oakland and spent the night there. The next day we flew directly to Maui. Except for them hand searching our luggage (we were one of the lucky ones picked in some way) the trip over was no problem at all. We flew Aloha Airlines and were very impressed. We spent two weeks in Maui and it was wonderful. Our first Sunday there we attended services at the little Episcopal Church of the Holy Innocents in Lahaina. It was very friendly, informal and had open-air sides. That afternoon, we went on a performance sail of the America II, a sailboat that had competed in the America’s Cup in 1987. That was a blast. I had never been on a sailboat before! We took an all day snorkeling trip on a motorized raft around the island of Lanai. That was equally wonderful. On the way back we ran into a pod of dolphins. They stopped the raft and we just sat there watching them for about 20 minutes. I cracked Dan and the travel agent up when we were scheduling the trip when I asked if there was a restroom on the raft! We took a ferry to the island of Molokai and looked down at the leper colony of Kalaupapa and also visited a coffee plantation and a macadamia nut farm. Molokai is still very quiet and unspoiled. We enjoyed it very much. The trade winds that were blowing our first week in Hawaii made both the sail boat excursion and the ferry ride to Molokai a real adventure. On Saturday, November 10th, we flew to Honolulu for the football game that our team (BSU) played against Hawaii. It was a wild game, with us winning in the final two minutes. Needless to say we kept a low profile on the shuttle bus back to our car. We spent the night in Honolulu and went to church the next morning at the beautiful Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. Andrew there. We were very impressed with it. It was totally opposite of the service the week before. While in Honolulu we also toured the Iolani Palace. Back in Maui, we spent another week of swimming, eating and generally being decadent, topped off with the Old Lahina Luau. Our flight back to Oakland was good, no problems. We got there about 10:00 on Friday night. Saturday, Dan rented a car and drove down to see his mom and his brother Irv. His mom had fallen a month or so before and he wanted to check on her and had not seen Irv in over a year. My nephew, Steve, came and picked me up and took me out to my niece, Julie’s house, in Livermore. Mother and Karen drove up from Fresno and we spent the day visiting and celebrating Karen’s birthday. It was good to see everyone, but it is always too bad that we don’t have more time to visit. Sunday we walked across the street from our hotel to the Oakland Coliseum and saw the Raiders beat the San Diego Chargers. Believe me, one of life’s more interesting events is attending an Oakland Raiders game! On Monday we flew home and had the only flight problem of the whole trip. Our flight was cancelled and we were delayed about 3 hours and had to hustle to catch a different one. Our luggage made it home the next day via Portland. It was a little hard to go back to work the next morning! Two days later was Thanksgiving. We had a quiet day. Chris and his new lady friend, Holli, came for dinner, which was very simple and informal. I had to work on Friday morning, but Dan was off for four days. We are beginning to get back to normal with bridge and basketball several times a week and gearing up for Christmas. We had dinner with the grandkids last night. They are really getting grown up. They have had an adventure filled year. Jayla is in 4th grade and Tony is in 3rd. They still live in Horseshoe Bend and are both avid readers. Chris and Holli took them to see the Harry Potter movie yesterday. Dan’s son Andy and his wife Amy presented us with a beautiful grand daughter last month. Her name is Quinn and her parents and grandparents all think she is the most wonderful baby ever. Cinda and Henri are busy studying and taking licensing tests. With the wedding and putting in a yard and patio, this has been a busy year for them too. Susanna is doing well, taking a college class and doing some copper and stained glass projects. It was good to see her in Chicago this summer. Dan and I are both doing fine. We keep trying to eat healthy and workout when we can. I have not done as well this year, with all the job changes, but am hopeful for the New Year. We renewed our membership to the fitness club for another 3 years. I am very impressed with Dan who gets up at 5 to go to the gym several times a week and works out with a personal trainer several times a month. Well, once again I have rambled on more than I planned. We are both doing well and happy for our lives together. We feel extremely blessed. We wish you all a very happy and peaceful 2002. **** We have gone “totally cellular” and both have new numbers. Be sure to update your records, as the old number won’t forward. Dan (208) 283-7711 |
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