Greetings to all our family and friends at this special season of the year! We hope all of you are healthy and finding joyful moments despite this historical economically challenging time. Finally, we are, for the first time, attempting our first annual holiday newsletter!
In several ways, this has been a milestone year for the Gellers. Early in the year (February to be precise), we acquired an additional family member - Stanley - our puppy mill rescue West Highland Terrier! He just turned a year old on December 6th but he is certainly still a puppy at heart. He keeps Evan and Bernadette from truly experiencing empty nest syndrome! We still have Midge who is now thirteen years young and doing well. Of course, she hasn't been thrilled with Stanley's presence but, true to her sweet disposition, is most tolerant of his antics. Nathan graduated from Princeton University in early June with a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (magna cum laude) in addition to meeting the requirements for the undergraduate programs in Latin American Studies and Environmental Science. Two weeks later, Nate headed to Los Angeles, California to begin an intensive six week training program in education for Teach For America. In September, he started teaching science and math to 7th grade students at Francisco Middle School in San Francisco, CA. For those of you who don't know, TFA trains top graduating students in the nation to commit to two years of teaching in poor inner city and rural schools throughout the country. It's sort of like the peace corp - but in the U.S. This has been a tremendous challenge for Nate and, indeed, a life altering experience. He is working harder than ever and seeing some positive results.
In mid-June, Jake graduated from Germantown Friends School and we enjoyed a graduation party in his honor at our home for family and friends. Evan and I had loads of fun performing in the traditional senior parent's play during Jake's graduation week. We were both dressed as nuns along with four other parents to sing "How Do You Solve A Problem Like A Senior?" If only we had a video! Best we don't! It's worth mentioning that Jake's GFS baseball team won the championship this year - fifth in a row!
Jake, Evan, Bernadette, Midge, and Stanley all headed to Maine this summer for quiet cottage relaxation on the coast. This has been a recurring preferred vacation location for most of our married life. For several years now, Evan and Bernadette have looked at homes and cottages for sale with a dream of buying one to be ultimately used upon retirement for at least half the year (April-October). In 2008, we did it!! We purchased a second home in Belfast, Maine on Head of the Tide Road. We are so excited! It has an acre of beautifully landscaped land on 270ft.of river waterfront and a charming three bedroom home. We look forward to furnishing the house over time and, especially, to having you visit! The ocean (Belfast Harbor) is just two miles away and the quaint town of Belfast is artsy and welcoming. In mid-July, Evan and Bernadette again enjoyed the gracious hospitality of Jamie and Stephen Wachman (Evan's sister and brother-in-law) at their rental property in Southhampton, N.Y. This is our third year spending a week of relaxing time with them - so restful and fun!
In mid-August, Evan, Bernadette, and Jake had the pleasure of Montreal visitors - Richard, Natalie, and Manu LaChance. They are our "half"-niece, "nephew-in-law", and their daughter. As always, we had a terrific time introducing them to parts of Philadelphia and just catching up on life.
In late August, Evan, Bernadette, and Jake headed to Brown University to drop Jake off for freshman orientation week. It is hard to believe Jake has almost finished his first semester of college! He is enjoying Brown and Providence, R.I. Evan and Bernadette had a wonderful weekend re-exploring the city that has changed so much since living there twenty years ago! It's ironic that Providence is where we started our family and then, so many years later, entered empty nest status! Jake continues his interest and practice of the art of magic. Amazingly, it turns out Brown has the largest magic library of any university in the country! Jake was unaware when he selected the school!
Oh, we acquired another new addition in August- Bernadette got a Mini Cooper S and she loves it! So much fun to drive and economical too!
In early November, Nathan headed to Cali, Colombia, as the U.S. guest exhibitor and teacher for their national origami convention. For 2007-08, Nate was also honored as one of 50 top international origamiists who exhibited at the Peabody museum outside Boston, Massachusetts.
Bernadette is thrilled to report that she has finally reached her dream of running a marathon! It happened the Sunday before Thanksgiving - the Philadelphia Marathon. After 30 years of running and many races including half marathons, she finally took on the big one and succeeded! What's next?
Finally, we continued our tradition of Thanksgiving at the Geller home with a total of about 28-30 people this year! It is always a special time. It should be noted (for all those anxious to hear) that Terri lost the potato peeling contest (what!!) to Sara! It is indeed a year of change! On Friday, Lucette and I found a great pub in the city (near Macy's) where we think we should all head the afternoon after Thanksgiving next year. Of course, this can be followed with a group movie excursion!
Evan is in the middle of his 19th year as a pediatric radiologist at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children! Bernadette is in her 17th year at Germantown Friends School - 12 years as an assistant director of admission! We love our jobs and Philadelphia has truly become our home!
Time to close this lengthy summary of a wonderful year. We are thankful for having been truly blessed in our home. We send our love and wishes to all of you for many blessings and much happiness in 2009!
Bernadette, Evan, Nate and Jake
Great Blog!
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