Dear Family & Friends,

Well 2020 has been quite a year! We don’t have any “True Love Adventures” travels to share this year, but we do have each other and that’s a lot more important. Now more than ever, we appreciate you! Sure 2020 has been a challenge, “What the 2020!” But there is still so much to be thankful for. Here’s our top 10 and I’ve added my Top 10 pictures from the year as well.

1. We are so thankful that our family and friends have been relatively healthy (other than the usual stuff that life brings our way as the years go by). No one in our immediate family has got Covid yet. Thank God!

2. We are thankful for wonderful books, podcasts, music, online movies and shows. Some of our favorites this year: Podcasts: (Alan Alda’s Clear & Vivid. Russ Robert’s EconTalk and Saul Spady’s Electric Election Road Trip). TV series: The Queen’s Gambit; and we are now “group watching” the Mandalorian with Jasmine, David and the grandkids. We’ve been devouring books from all genres. Let us know what you have read and loved. We are always looking for new books. And many people don’t know that their Prime Membership comes with a free Kindle book from a list of 5 or 6 every month. It’s a great way to discover new novels. My Mom and I often choose the same book. I discovered a fun old-fashioned mystery series, by Marlo Benn, with a female detective set in the 1920’s. The Julie Kidd Novels are also very good. Some of our favorite authors this year are Louise Penny, Jeff Wheeler and Douglas Richard. I’m rereading Harry Potter because James read it for the first time and the discussions were truly special. Jim loved: “Up from Slavery An Autobiography” by Booker T Washington. And just recently I read: “ Challenge, A Philosopher’s Guide to becoming Tougher, Calmer and More Resilient.” It’s a perfect book for 2020!

3. We are thankful for pickleball and our pickleball buddies here on Oahu.

4. We are thankful for being retired. We sure picked a good time to retire! This allowed us to spend more time in “low-COVID” Hawaii and allowed us to spend more time this summer with James and Robert in Seattle. Of course we couldn’t have done this without Jasmine’s amazing leadership of the team at Dick’s. She has guided our family business during this crisis very well and we are very grateful for that!

5. We are thankful for Zoom. It doesn’t replace being together in person, and boy do us huggers miss the hugs, but we have had many wonderful zoom experiences with friends and family, including a marvelous Family Assembly meeting with a hybrid of live and virtual participation, a virtual Passover Seder and several virtual birthday celebrations. We even cooked dinner virtually together with Greg & Carolyn Call.

6. We are thankful the election season is over and we can move on. “This is the way!” (Mandalorian reference)

7. We are thankful for BridgeBase Online. We miss seeing our Rainier Club bridge friends in person, but it’s been great to play and chat virtually.

8. We are thankful for getting healthier and losing weight. Last spring Jim and I decided the best thing we could do during COVID was to make sure we stayed healthy and focus on losing weight. Thanks to our local organic produce delivery, no alcohol, virtually no sugar and lots of exercise, we did it! Jim lost 12 pounds and I lost 16. Woohoo!

9. We are thankful for the miracle of modern medical science. First, Jim got his hip replaced last Christmas and he is stronger now than he’s been in a long time. And thanks to the past 10 years of scientific vaccine work prior to COVID, multiple COVID vaccines have been created in record time. America’s front line medical workers and those most at risk will soon be vaccinated, with others in the USA and globally soon to follow.

10. Finally, we are thankful for all of the beauty around us, including amazing sunsets and sunrises, trees and flowers, vegetables and fruits grown in friends’ gardens, oceans, mountains, waterfalls, the stars, planets and satellites in a clear night sky and, most importantly, your beautiful smiling faces!

Mele Chanukah, Mele Kalikimaka, and Mele New Year! Let’s all raise a glass to 2021 and a better future! But clearly looking back on the year of photos and love, we are so very very blessed.

Love Always, Jim & Fawn