Dear Friends,
It must be obvious by now that we are late with our Christmas greetings to you who mean so much to us. The Lord does work in mysterious ways sometimes and our best intentions take second place to the events of our lives.
On Saturday, December 13, we celebrated Ken’s graduation from Texas A&M University. All our Christmas cards were addressed and everything seemed to be on schedule. Then, on Monday, December 15, Pat’s father died in Ohio. He had been in pain for a long time and for him death was a gift from God. For the rest of us it was a shock and a sad time, but we too recognize the blessing in it. Pat and Karen spent a week in Ohio clearing up financial, legal and spiritual affairs and returned home on Monday evening, December 22. Christmas was beautiful as always. The “kids” were all home and we were once more reminded of the presence of God in our lives.
As for news, Pat and Karen are chugging along trying to find an extra few hours in each day. Pat is busy marrying, baptizing and catechizing at the parish as well as holding down his position at BCM. Karen seems to be a full time volunteer which is a real joy. She is training to be a spiritual director, singing at Baptisms, working in the food pantry, and generally keeping very busy! Deb is finding a lot of fulfillment and challenge in her new job as convention coordinator at the San Antonio Convention Center. It’s great to see her happy in her work. Ken is considering his options now that he’s out of school and one of them might be graduate school in the fall (if he can figure out how and where.) Kip is entering his last year at Southwest Texas State U. The world may soon have a new science teacher. He too, is busy, happy and involved in a number of hobbies such as karate and scuba diving.
Hopefully, next year we will have time to give you a more personal message at Christmas. Until then, know that you are in our thoughts and prayers. May 1987 be a year of happiness and blessing for you.
Much love,
N.B. There is no Christmas letter for 1985, or at least my files do not include one. No explanation for the omission is available. For some reason, this letter for 1986 was typed using all capitals. The usual lower case is used for this electronic copy.