LONG TIME NO READ, STRANGERS Part 1

Me and the In-laws gathered around a statue in Luzern...Gary rocking the always classic Bogner.

It's been a while since I've last sat at my Macbook Pro (I'm trying to get sponsorship from Apple with product placement) to put words on paper so to speak.  Three kilos and one week later, here we are.  The wife and I are literally happier and fatter than we've been in a long time.  The wife's family, now my family as well, came to visit for eight days.  It was nice having familiar faces talking in a familiar language sharing familiar experiences. Quite nice.  We tackled Zurich, trekked up to the beautiful snowy Uetliberg, and took a day trip to Luzern.  Oh and yes, we ate some of the finest French, German, Thai, Italian and Swiss cuisine that Europe has to offer.  

But before I recap the holiday season, I wanted to thank a very special person, Grammy. Grammy is my wife's Grandmother and my grandmother-in-law and my mother-in-law's mother, not exactly in that order.  She's the only person that I personally know that matriculated from New Mexico and is always full of life.  She's always excited to see me and my wife, not always in that order.  Many folks may already know about this, but Grammy started a family initiative in which she encourages the family to donate their time and resources to others each year.  Some of us donate to established organizations and some of us choose to donate to individuals that may be having a rough go at it at a specific time.  The wife and I chose to donate to our local neighborhood school, Newberry Academy, and to the Mastery Charter School's dance program in Philadelphia.  My wife and I value education and we will always continue to contribute our time and resources to education, especially public education.  This past xmas, we received thank you cards from the Mastery Charter School students and we got pretty emotional as we read the cards and watched their thank you ensemble filmed by their teacher.  It's amazing how a small gift could have such a big impact on so many students.  Grammy has placed charitable giving at the forefront of our family's value system and we greatly APPRECIATE all that she has done for us.  We thank you Grammy and all the wonderful people that give their time and energy to others.

Thank You Grammy!