Christmas 2008

What a wonderful year this has been (if you ignore the status of our retirement accounts). We are in good health, have jobs, and are not up to our necks in debt. We enjoy a bevy of family and friends who accompany us through our lives. What more could we ask for (besides a Powerball jackpot)?

We began the year at the beach – what a wonderful place to start. We finally got around to opening that bottle of Dom Perignon and savored our first, and probably last, experience of it. Scrooge Fest at the Art League of New Britain was again a great topping off of the holiday season.

February gave us the opportunity to toast 50 years for Paul’s brother Steve – who knew there is so much “over the hill” merchandise on the market? At the end of the month we were pleased to see Chad Allen at TheaterWorks in Hartford in “The Little Dog Laughed” – where he played the part of a closeted celebrity. It’s a stressful show full of insecurity, indecision, and egoism, but did I mention his character disrobes a lot?

In March, we attended a wine tasting fundraiser in Windsor, where Steve ran into an elementary school classmate he hadn’t seen in more than 25 years. He recently dug up a photo of that class from 1979 and posted it on Facebook, where he just passed the 100 friends mark! (Humph – Paul has 105). Facebook.com is becoming a great networking and old friend finding tool – check it out! Upon hearing strange noises, Steve brought his Saturn to the dealer, and left a substantial amount of money, but at least he got to drive home and back in a shiny new red Mustang for free. The month was capped by another hilarious revue show by the Connecticut Gay Men’s Chorus, and some “big beers” the next day at East Side in New Britain with relatives – who we just discovered live across the street from fellow church choir members of ours. It really is a small world. After. All.

In April, there were more fundraisers, the golf courses opened, and our church choir joined two others for a blessed concert at Immanuel Congregational Church in Hartford. We gained our second parlor organ from friends of friends. Repairing it may be Steve’s winter project. We traveled to the New Jersey shore where our friends found it amusing that we were so amused with the boardwalk at the Seaside Heights boardwalk. We earned a bucket of tickets!

May gave us a huge Mother’s Day – besides out own, we had six more Moms in attendance! The following week was our performance of Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis with the Hartford Chorale and Hartford Symphony Orchestra – a huge work into which we poured our blood, sweat and tears – and got back such an emotional high that may be hard to beat. But two weeks later, we celebrated the 50th wedding anniversary of Ed & Elaine Bendlin – congratulations again!

June was busy. Trinity College held the 21st annual Connecticut Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. We attended two evenings, one to see “Were the World Mine” where we could meet the director and one of its lead actors. Steve just purchased the just-released soundtrack and is reliving the emotional power of the show. And then we went to Disneyworld to experience our first “Gay Days” weekend. Our friends and park experts Brad & Rick joined us and thousands of other red-shirted fabulous folks to have a fun time in the parks. We did attend one after-hours party to see Mo’Nique (a fun comic) and to see how the “circuit party” crowd throws a dance party. Let’s just say that, while the beefcake was plentiful, Taylor Dayne (the singer) disappointed, and it was very good to be sober in a crowd downing Red Bull and vodka. But in the parks, the Lion King show never fails to impress us, the new roller coaster at Animal Kingdom “Expedition Everest” was worth multiple rides, and Spaceship Earth at Epcot has been updated so that you star in a customized movie played while you ride! The next week we went back to the beach, and brought the kayaks. We still enjoy paddling very much, and travel across the state looking for new water to explore. Back at Trinity, the summer carillon concert series began its 59th season. Again we followed its first program with a tour of Elizabeth Park’s rose gardens – always a delight.

July began with a bang, lots of lost golf balls, and ended with more quality dinner time with the Freal side the family.

In August, we finally made it back to Wisconsin to see the Ripon College side of the family. The Milwaukee Art Museum was a treat to see. But it was ever so wonderful to catch up in person with longtime friends. Steve built Elsie a new retaining wall (and will next year have to fix the garden it holds up). He is extremely grateful to her side of the family who donated much to his genealogy research. The month ended with a very fun wine tasting set up as pot luck. Robert & Anthony assigned each couple in attendance a country or region, in which style we were to bring an appetizer, a red wine, and a white wine. This event deserves to be repeated!

September included more kayaking, art exhibits, garden touring, a night at the Publick Theatre outside Boston, and was filled with preparation for October’s grand European vacation for Steve & Paul, Steve & Deb, Elsie & Louise.

Rome is amazing; dirty, but rich with history. Our hotel was a block from the Vatican. We spent several days wandering the city, seeing most of the tourist areas, and exploring in between. Paul was awed by seeing the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and finding that “God creates Adam” is only one panel of nearly 50. We’ll have to go back when there aren’t 500 other people in the room, jockeying for space and causing the monitors to hiss “shhhhh! No pictures!” over and over again. Whether it’s Disney or a historical site, we definitely recommend arriving during the week at opening time – the Vatican Museum was very crowded in the afternoon. But climbing to the cupola of St. Peter’s first thing in the morning was splendorous, not just for the architecture, art, and views (and the Vatican shot glasses we could buy on the roof), but for the lack of lines and crowds. Peace; we felt peace. Last but not least, we attended a Sunday noon blessing by the Pope with thousands of other pilgrims. And then we hopped aboard our cruise ship, to see Sicily, Patmos, Mykonos & Santorini, Greece, and Izmir, Turkey. The weather was great, the islands were beautiful, and we visited sites with Biblical connections. The area around the ruins of Ephesus, Turkey includes the (first) tomb of St. John the Divine, and the house where he took the Virgin Mary to escape those who were trying to prevent the spread of early Christianity. We entered the cave on Patmos where it is said John wrote the book of Revelation. Wow!

In other news, we are now the proud parents of… two more parlor “pump” organs! Halloween sent us to the Finger Lakes region of New York to pick up the latest, and most playable. Like a lot of things around here, they are works in progress! If we were only retired with all day to fiddle with them... :)

I hope this Christmas letter finds everyone safe, healthy and happy. We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Paul and Steve