Happy Holidays from the Grecos

Time for what has become our biannual holiday letter. Just not enough going on to write one every year.

And 2019 has been more eventful than usual. In May we traveled to California to celebrate a friend’s 70^th birthday. In return they came here in September to help us celebrate our 50^th anniversary. We had also spent time with them in Palm Desert in September 2018. Earlier in 2018 we visited Palm Desert for Modernism Week – a celebration of the architecture of the area that was built in the 50s. During that visit we met our friends in Santa Monica to celebrate Chinese New Year (the year of the dog) at Chinois.

In July 2018 we spent a few days in Vegas. Unfortunately John’s wallet was stolen on our walk back from breakfast the first morning and we spent the rest of the morning making calls to cancel and order new credit/Medicare/insurance cards and driver’s license. Our 2019 trip was not so trying!

Karen and Jack, Deanne’s college friend and her husband, spent last winter, and are spending this winter, in Sun City. We try to play bridge about once a week and celebrated Christmas Eve at the buffet in our community’s restaurant. Good food and good company. In March 2019 Karen and Deanne hosted a reunion with two college friends. We realized that it had been ten years since our last reunion. Maybe not so long before the next one?

We tried to expand our horizons a bit this year by going on some of our community organized trips. In November we visited Tubac, an artist colony in southern Arizona. Lots of interesting shops, including one called The Feminine Mystique, which features works by female artists and artisans. We purchased a gourd with a star. Another stop on that trip was Mission San Xavier. Built in 1783 and still a working church, it is considered one of the finest examples of Mexican Baroque architecture in the United States.

In December we went to ZooLights – a fantastic display of lights and animals constructed of Chinese lanterns at the Phoenix Zoo. Fortunately it did not rain that evening. We have had a lot of rainy days this fall. We were sore the next day from all the walking.

We still attend the productions at Arizona Opera and the Broadway touring shows at Gammage. We also saw Cavalia (a mashup of Cirque du Soleil and horses) and a Cirque touring show.

Because Deanne thought she didn’t have enough to do, she agreed to be president of the local Lady Putters. Like all such positions, it looks relatively easy from outside but requires more time and energy than one anticipates. But she has good people on the board who help with decisions and logistics.

We’re both healthy, but are anticipating cataract surgery and, for Deanne, possible knee replacement in the coming year. Guess we can’t stop the aging process.

Hope this finds all of you in good health and good cheer. Have a festive holiday and a healthy new year.

John & Deanne