Dear friends and family,
The very best thing about 2019 is watching Evie learn and grow. Our first granddaughter was born mid-fall 2018 on her father John Forcey's birthday. Watching her facial expressions as she tries new foods is priceless. She walked before she crawled, and scootched, her fill in for crawling. She knows signs for help, please, thank you, milk, all done, etc., and supplements with pointing and tonal imitations of talking (and animal sounds!) Laura places toy animals throughout the house and does a tour, one of Evie's demand activities for both of us.
And the very worst thing about 2019 was walking alongside Laura's dad Bob as he died from dementia. While we all tried to enjoy everything we could, it's just hard and the end was especially hard. Staying engaged and alongside was a discipline for all of us, and especially Martha, Laura's mom. One treat was the more frequent visits from Laura's family which culminated in the mega-gathering and the memorial service when his life ended—a good farewell and a good beginning to the challenges of life without him. He was a good man and a close friend to me as well as Laura's dearest dad. She wanted to be there when he died and she was. She did however make me promise to eat zucchini and spinach for the rest of my life….
I got to travel some more, looking for those "good conversations" with people in international ministry, and we even took a vacation. We imposed on friends in Hawaii for a great trip together in January, went to Houston together, and I went to Taiwan twice, the first being when Laura came AND got cataract surgery. I also went to Ohio to staff an MK transition seminar, and to AZ, IN, MD, MI, NC, NM, and Sonora, Mexico. We also had folks come to see us, more than once or twice! We'll continue to juggle responsibilities here with travel for ministry (and occasional vacations).
It's hard to tell which Laura loves more, hanging with Evie, being alongside her mom and dad, or connecting with the international women through International Women's Connection. Actually it isn't hard to tell, but she does love them all. She's been both busy and stressed this year, but these are all people that matter much to her. She loves me and her children, too! Still seeing Laura with Evie is one of the best things ever.
Sarah is balancing parenting with doing psychology at Mayfield Associates, while John balances parenting with teaching philosophy at UCCS and Pikes Peak. They live around the corner from us with Laura's mom, which is a great help! Joey and Laura are in Lakewood, CO, now in a 1953 house they've made a home, loving people and doing STEM. Joey is now at Ping Identity (product manager) and his wife Laura is at NREL (National Renewable Energy Labs, materials scientist.) Robert got his black belt in Taekwondo and took up Jujitsu, which he seems to like even better. My wife Laura hopes Robert doesn't hurt himself and never takes up mixed martial arts. He continues with Dr Roark in the eye clinics, now finishing his 7th year. We get together more since we all live in Colorado at the moment, and also got away to Steamboat Springs together in August.
With love and gratitude,
Steve and Laura
<spinella@alumni.rice.edu> <lauraspinella@gmail.com>
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