December 2018
Dear
Friends and Family,
Greetings from the nation's capital,
home of the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals and the
sometime-in-the-future champion Washington Nationals. We join with other
Americans in longing for the time when America is truly great again: John
Winthrop's "city upon a hill;" Frederic Bartholdi's "liberty
enlightening the world."
Our holiday season is clouded by the
death of James's father, at age 90 in Taipei, after a long battle with COPD, lucid
and mostly comfortable almost to the end. James was grateful for a final
Facetime visit a few days before. His mother, age 88, is in relatively good
health for her age and has two of James's older siblings in Taipei to help her
transition. James plans to travel after Christmas for the funeral and other
family business. Ken posted a longer tribute on his Facebook page, along with a
link to the video tribute that James made a few years ago.
Ken and James celebrated their
fifteenth year together with a much-needed weeklong vacation to the trending
destination of Portugal. James continues as an IT consultant with Total
Resource Management in Alexandria; Ken is in his 25th term of writing Supreme
Court Yearbook (CQ Press) and the tenth year of his blog Jost on Justice. He posts
breaking news on Twitter (@jostonjustice) and on Facebook; he also continues to
do occasional radio hits and to write occasional reviews for the online Washington
Independent Review of Books. Ken's other major trip was with AJ to Houston, our
28th MLB ballpark, for the Astros' home opener, complete with the presentation
of the World Series trophy and the raising of their 2017 pennant.
Andrew (AJ) and Robbie continue to
be happy, healthy, and productive living in their Arlington home with their
two-year-old golden retriever Henry. AJ entered his fourth year at Clark
Enterprises helping to manage the investment portfolio that will eventually be
given away to charitable organizations and universities throughout the
Washington, D.C., area. Robbie completed her fifth year at Crowell & Moring
and her first full year as counsel at the firm. She continues to represent
clients in the medical device and health insurance industries and has assumed more
responsibilities within the firm. AJ and Robbie took vacations to Bermuda,
Santa Barbara, and Hilton Head.
Nicole and Lily have moved into a
bigger apartment in San Francisco's Outer Sunset neighborhood after significant
milestones: Nicole completed her three-year program for a master's degree in
creative writing at San Francisco State University, with graduation exercises
in May at AT&T Park (!). Lily has been promoted to production and
technology manager at the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, with the
benefit of additional vacation time. Nicole continues to teach playwriting to
young people in several different settings. Her play, Sucia, a modern
Cinderella story, was produced at SF State in March; another of her plays, Intimates,
was shown as a staged reading at Custom Made Theater in November.
In these difficult times, we gain
strength and comfort from our many friends: near and distant, virtual and
actual. Please know that we wish for you and yours much joy during this holiday
season and health and happiness in the coming year.
