Family Letter - January, 2003
It's 2003! Wow! How time flies. This is the year Lynn and I retire, June 1st to be exact. We are really feeling the pressure of all the things that need to be done so we can begin our relaxing cruising. I'm only stressing a little, Lynn is stressing a bit more. Many things to accomplish in the next four months. We have to sell Lynn's house. Simeon was going to move down and live in our San Clemente house but decided not to move down to Orange County but stay in Ojai, so we will now look at leasing this Spanish historical house. We have to apply for our "historical home" tax relief, sort through everything in the garage and in the house that we don't want to store and give it to the children or to Goodwill, look into life insurance as we both lose that when we retire, figure out what to do with the cars when we are gone, finish upgrades, repairs, and provisioning on the boat, and a myriad of little things like arranging for someone to handle mail, bills we can't pay from the boat, who's going to post pictures we send back to this website, etc. Yeah, it is a little stressing. But I'm looking forward to not worrying about anything but our cruise.
Kids all are fine. Our youngest is Nicholas, 23, who has been living in Lynn's house and now is buying a condo with two friends at the Triangle in Costa Mesa, just on the border of Newport Beach. His girlfriend Stacey has gone back to Santa Barbara to school. We really miss our little sweetheart.
Our daughter Simeon is going to school in Ojai and working and taking care of our 2 year old Summer Rose who is cute as a bug and healthy.
Our son Steve and wife Shauna are doing great in San Diego. Steve is a little disenchanted with the company he joined where he sells computer software. The management style is "manage by intimidation" and not recognition. Steve has been talking to me about starting a Theme Bar in the San Diego area. Wow, what an undertaking! I won't be around to assist, but I'm always here for advice, and to play golf when Steve's available. 3 year old Chase is growing like a weed and is more like a 4 or 5 year old in size and very athletic. 2 year old Riley is coming out of her shell and is a little sweetie, and all are healthy.
Our daughter Erin has found the love of her life, Pete, who Lynn and I both approve of greatly. No date for a wedding, Yet. Erin is teaching preschool and Pete wheels and deals in security systems when he and I are not on the golf course. He has two girls, Kiley, 12 and Page, 14, both terrific girls and they live in a very nice neighborhood in Santa Ana with a house decorated in antique style. We love it. Erin's Noah, 8, is the most athletic kid at his age I've ever witnessed, and Sydney, 13, is going to cause a lot of boys to go weak in the knees.
Our daughter Cheryl has a new job. She finally got out of clothing retail which is one of the most difficult careers to tolerate. She is now training to be a store manager in the Lenscrafters store in Orange. Now if we could just find her a boyfriend, hmmmmm. But she is healthy and doing well, so what more can a parent ask.
Our daughter Hillary and husband Jerry are quite happy, healthy and doing great. Their son Justin is in a special school for the Arts and he's a Wow to look at being 6 foot 5 and only 15 years old!
We live in the greatest country on Earth, our kids and grandkids are all healthy and doing well, and Lynn and I are both reasonably healthy. I don't know what else I could ask for, truthfully. I do have high cholesterol and am working with diet and drugs to reduce that, and I still have migraine headaches and stomach Reflux that both require medication. But to me these are only minor irritations. Believe me, without the meds I could be in a very poor mood though. Lynn is fine with the exception of the stitches in her right shin. Yeah, I opened the hatch in the boat for maintenance and Lynn fell in cutting her leg and getting pretty bruised. I know, it'll be a while before I live that one down. I love her a lot, and I admit I got a bit pale and weak as they wheeled her off to the hospital. But I did watch them sew it up and I can now say I could do it in an emergency, if I don't feint.
Well, on to the list of things we have to get done before we leave for the California Delta June 15th. I'm still coming to work in support of Patti, the person I trained to take over for me. But most of the time I am just advising. I am spending a lot of time calming Lynn down as the time approaches. It is a big deal to quite your job after 30 years, but I'm ready, and Lynn is getting there little by little.
Love to all, Lynn and Les
