The Lewin Family Letter - 2004 ©
Remember the old adage from Claire Boothe Luce: "No good deed goes unpunished?"
Carol's mother. Michelina, affectionately known as "Mickey," suffered some dramatic health problems in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in December of 2003 and Carol went to Florida to rescue her and brought her to live with us in mid January.
Mickey has a bit of dementia, so when she moved in with us, it was a real challenge. To top it off, the first day here, she fell and fractured her shoulder. It was uphill from there.
It all came together in January, Carol's mom, remodeling part of the house and our heater belched it's last breath of lukewarm air. First things first, Mickey's arm was in a sling and the house was in a 6 week state of chaos. Everything went together quite well, the arm healed in time, the house slowly went back to normal and we are warming up to a new heater in the attic.
Carol's plate became quite full, taking care of Mickey's home in Florida and putting it up for sale, taking care of her affairs and of course, taking care of Mickey. That became a full time position. Carol was able to handle everything and realized after six months that she was unable to give the 24 hour care that Mickey needed, so Mickey moved into the Olivehain Guest Home, just a few miles away. There she gets the care she needs. She is doing very well.
Mickey turned 90 this year and she was honored at the guest home and at a joint birthday party with Vicki Moskowitz's father who also turned 90. The parties were fantastic and here are some pictures. Or, you can sit back and watch the computer show. (It's a larger file, so be patient as it downloads.)
Pelican Design, Carol (and her partner Katie)'s landscaping business, continues to take seed and sprout. They have entered their third year of business and business is blooming and everything is coming up roses.
Carol is very busy with the business, the Master Gardener Program, working at Quail Botanical Gardens and of course, her mom.
Carol also visited a cousin in New York and taught a class in gourds and a month later celebrated her friend Julie's birthday in Minneapolis.
Anthony is doing quite well at the University of Redlands, and is majoring in financial economics and surfing. One is a major, and one is a minor, we can't quite recall which is which. Believe it or not, Anthony turned the big "Two-Oh" and is no longer a teenager. His birthday was the day after Thanksgiving and we celebrated with Mickey. He has also been spending much time at the gym working out and sporting some muscles in places that I don't even have places.
Do us a favor, go to this page and let us know if you can see him.
Anth is rumoring to spend the upcoming fall semester in Australia surfing and, oh yea, studying at a satellite campus of the University of Redlands. His parents may have to visit him and combine that with a trip to New Zealand.
Towards the end of 2003, we took a short cruise from Long Beach to Catalina Island and Ensenada. Candid Camera came along and took a few pictures. Be sure to let the page completely load and then run your mouse over some of the pictures, and you will see who came with us. During the summer, we took a week and flew to Spokane, Washington then drove to Fairmont Hot Springs in British Columbia.
Oh yes...the really big news...this writer is making final plans for a new backyard antenna tower for his ham radio. Please don't tell Carol!
We wish each and everyone a happy Holiday Season, great health and a prosperous 2005.
Other Family Holiday Offerings: