Happy holidays to all our loved ones!
We are happy to report that we continue to enjoy relatively good health, our jobs, family, and each other. Despite the uncertainty of the world around us, we are grateful to have the most basic of life’s blessings as we enter 2009.
Most of our big events in 2008 occurred over the summer. First, as many of you know, after years of living in sin we decided to go legit and were married on June 24th in Oakland . Then we went for a week’s honeymoon in Chicago, which was a great vacation in a great city (you can find photos of our trip elsewhere in our website). In July we drove to Oregon as Sally, Craig’s mom, planned to move from her retirement apartment to her own home in Keizer, where she now lives. Later in July we moved from San Leandro to Alameda. We love our new home, complete with a courtyard our many succulents love, and only a block to the bay and a 30 minute express bus ride into San Francisco. Now we are close to family and to the many activities Alameda has to offer. We are glad to live in a place we can comfortably call home.
One major event this year was the 75th birthday party for Doreen, Rob’s mom, in November. Months of planning and meetings between the siblings resulted in a flawless program honoring three quarters of a century of a life well lived. Everyone in attendance had a great time, and even the staff at Jackson Rancheria, where the party was held, was impressed both by how impressive the party was and by the closeness of the family.
Christmas always seems to surprise it, even as we anticipate its arrival each year. This year the world was especially distracting, with wars that fail to bring peace, greed that is compromising our economic system, bad business decisions that we’re expected to pay for fixing, corrupt and inept political “leaders,” and a never-ending presidential campaign and its aftermath. If only more people would have reflected on the message at the core of Christmas, how different this world would be! We hope that this year, at long last, that miracle will come to pass.
Peace and Joy to all, Craig and Rob
The Dirty Martini Lounge Wishes You the Best of the Holiday Season
Rob's Christmas Memories
As a child, the gifts of Christmas were always found under the lighted tree. My mother always made sure we had more than one gift to open. She found delight in watching her children tear open the carefully wrapped packages. The gift tag would always read "from Mom and Dad." But we knew that Mom did all the shopping. And then there were my aunts and uncles. We would line up to receive our envelopes. Early on they would give us toys, but as we got older we were given cash in a simple white envelope. It always seemed that my older siblings and cousins would get a little bit more.
It happened one year that my brothers and sisters realized there was more to Christmas than receiving. It dawned on us that we could buy each other presents - I can't remember exactly when, but I think I was in the fifth grade. We rushed to the local mall and favored a store called Exotica - it had everything from incense, wall posters to cigarette papers. That was the year my brother Joe received a map of South America, Exotica had everything.
The family tree had many outstanding moments. For many years, Mom loved getting the tree flocked. Most of the time, she would chose the traditional white. But there was this one time when she had it flocked in pink. Now that was truly special.
Church was never a big part of our Christmas celebration, as we rarely attended Midnight Mass or Christmas Day services. It was all about family. The adults would gather and play mahjong and poker in one room, while the children would play games and share jokes around the Christmas tree. I always enjoyed sitting with the adults. When one had to step away for a bathroom break, I would be the substitute player. It's funny but I remember the adults were always more risque with their humor and more dishy with their gossip.
Today, my family still gathers on Christmas Eve. New traditions have been created, such as the Holiday cooking contest and the Gag Gift exchange. Past traditions are remembered, such as always celebrating my Grandfather's birthday before Jesus' on the 24th. The one activity that seems to happen every year is the paper fight that ensues after all gifts have been opened. The kids, young and old alike, wad up spent Christmas wrapping paper and throw it across the room at unsuspecting victims. I remember it was one of my brothers who started this yearly free-for-all, it's the one that received the map we spoke of earlier.
Craig and Rob wish you the very best of the holiday season. Whatever you do, be safe. We hope that the new year fulfills its promise of positive change. We all must do our part to make that happen.
