Merry Christmas from the Larsons
The year 2022 marked a year to “return to normal,” so to speak, for us. It wasn’t entirely normal, as if we know exactly what that is, but it was definitely more normal than the last couple of years. We traveled a bit and Connie spent much of the year trying to get back on her feet after a year of repeated surgeries in 2021. I’m still not used to the concept of retirement and it may take me a few more years to get the hang of it.
The first part of the year was spent going back and forth to a wound clinic after Connie’s surgical incision balked at healing properly. We also were regularly visited by home health nurses who did their part to help. We were very pleased with the care that Connie received from them. Connie’s incision had healed by the end of February and that brought the end of home health. One more thing behind us.
We did upgrade our computers this year after eight years (for me) and even longer for Connie. I spent a couple of days in late January getting them set up.
I started going to a “vision therapy” clinic in March. I’ve been having issues with double vision on distant objects in the past few years and my optometrist referred me to this clinic in the hopes that I can get everything corrected so I won’t end up with glasses that are to heavy to wear. I continued going to therapy sessions and doing home exercises for the remainder of the year – I’ve been told that this type of therapy takes a long time to complete.
Before we took any “real” trips, we took a “practice” trip to a hotel in nearby Round Rock in late May. This was to get Connie uses to sleeping in a different bed, getting into/out of a shower, navigate around a hotel, etc. This proved to be successful so the stress was reduced when we went to Nebraska over Memorial Day. We saw my uncle Ken and two of my cousins, Kathy and Karen, who had driven out from Des Moines, IA while we were there.
We also attended the “Boone Reunion” in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in mid-June. Connie is the only member of the Boone Society to have attended all of the reunions since the first in 1996.
We made three trips to Kentucky – in July for our youngest (twin) nephews’ high school graduation party and in September and October for Connie’s class reunions. She attended two high schools and was invited to both of their reunion get-togethers. We had a very nice time at each and seeing relatives that we hadn’t seen in a while during our visits.
We undertook some major home improvement this year when we had our 12 year old roof replaced with a metal roof. This isn’t the usual “standing seam” metal roof that many people think of when they hear “metal” but instead is a steel roof that has the look of shingles. In fact, if one didn’t know differently, it is hard to determine that it isn’t a standard shingled roof. I’m now waiting for the raging hailstorm to see how good it works! We also had a new sprinkler controller installed this year – I can now control the sprinklers from my phone. What great fun!
In August, we took a driving trip to Fort Worth. Neither of us had been there in a while and Connie hadn’t seen her friend Sharon since her original hip replacement surgery back in 2018. While Connie and Sharon was shopping and/or visiting, I got to do some exploring around Fort Worth – where Connie and I had first met back in 1986. So much had changed and so much I had forgotten that it wasn’t as easy to navigate around town as I had expected. Connie, Sharon and I spent one evening seeing the Texas Rangers play the Detroit Tigers and Globe Life Field – my 58th Major League ballpark. Unfortunately the Rangers lost 11-2.
We returned to Nebraska in late September to see a football game and to visit my college friends. Watching the games isn’t like it used to be when Nebraska rolled over most opponents. They’ve fallen on hard times in recent years so just seeing a win is a positive. Fortunately, they bested Indiana on a perfect evening for football by the score of 35-21 so the home fans were happy. We also traveled out to Stromsburg, NE and spent an afternoon visiting my brother, Tab.
We took another driving trip, this time to San Antonio, for our anniversary weekend in November. We saw some friends while we were there and had an anniversary dinner at a nice restaurant.
I continued to go to Houston with my friend Gilbert to take in some Astros’ games again this year and I remained active in our local SABR chapter. Connie tried to participate as best she could in P.E.O.
We wish you and yours a joyful holiday season.
Jan & Connie
Connie: connielarson@mail.com, 512-522-3354
Jan: jan.a.larson@gmail.com, 512-522-3355
The online version of this letter with hyperlinks may be found at: http://www.pieofknowledge.com/xmas/index.htm