December 2010
Dear Friends & Family,
We had a lovely year, at least what we remember of it here in the throes of a wickedly cold December—very unusual for the South: snow, ice storms, and many nights and even days into the low teens.
A couple of the highlights of the year include Elizabeth’s graduation with a Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from the University of Tennessee (Memphis) Health Science Center. She is now working at the University of Tennessee Medical Center here in Knoxville. She is a wee bit tired from the long, somewhat stressful hours, but is enjoying the experience and enjoying married life with Aaron.
Stephen had a semester abroad to Cypress in June, and this fall he had a media internship with Jupiter Productions. (Ever seen Snapped, the show on Oxygen about wives who kill their husbands? One of Jupiter’s fine productions.) Stephen has done well this semester and has been enjoying the companionship of a particular young girl--in fact the whole family rather likes Joyanna!
Mary has successfully completed her third semester at Harvard and has, in a single semester, attended more balls, concerts, plays, parties, teas, dinners, Finals Club events, theater, ballet, and other social scenes than her mother or father have experienced in a lifetime. She has also studied and agonized more about papers, problem sets, and exams this semester than Stephen has in a lifetime. She has been very happily dating a young man and fellow high-jumper at Harvard, whose only fault, apparently, is that he is from Southern California—that fault, of course, is from her mother’s point of view!
Russ and Rebecca hardly look a year older than they did last year at this time. In the summer they had a wonderful trip to California and Utah along with Mary, Stephen, Elizabeth & Aaron to see Julie, and then on to the big July 24th celebrations in Mantua. And most of the crew finished the Dam Race in style! In November, near anniversary time, Russ and Rebecca took a quick trip to San Francisco (ostensibly, to go to an academic conference; we appreciate your tax dollars—and actually we did attend many sessions!). We saw Beach Blanket Babylon, the longest-running musical revue in history: 35 years. (I took my dear mother to see it about 25 years ago—and she loved it). We also ate at the Empress of China restaurant—fabulous—and took a guided bus tour of the city. It was the clearest day in a decade, said the bus driver, and temperatures were in the mid 70s. In the late afternoon, we took a ferry to Sausalito and watched the sun set behind the Golden Gate Bridge.
In Knoxville, of a winter evening, you are likely to find us enjoying a fire and watching The Office or House, reading, or perhaps reciting poetry: “Now Sam McGee was from Tennessee, where the cotton blooms and
blows . . . .”
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.
The Hirsts
