New Year's Day, 2006
It seems fitting, somehow, to be writing our "Christmas" letter for 2005 on New
Year's Day, 2006. Though we had good intentions of sending you our greetings
early in the holiday season, extraordinary events took our focus away from our
annual letter and an invitation for two weeks in Sweden in December required a
quick and, of course, positive response.
Our friend and colleague, Barry Marshall, was awarded the Nobel Prize in
Medicine in Stockholm on December 10th and we were fortunate enough to be
included among the few invitees to this event which was not only science and
formality, but also a bit like Cinderella and fairyland, too. We were able to
chronicle our trip on peura.com and
invite all to share the experience with us online.
Aside from our most unusual December, sending Christmas cards on New Year's Day
has given us the opportunity to read all the news from our family and friends
who were not as tardy as we. And so our hearts are filled with events and
feelings shared - the successes, the difficulties as well as the photos which
many have sent to us.
News of our family centers around Jessica this year - and it is good news,
indeed! After years of study and sacrifice, Jessica is now a full fledged,
albeit first year, chemistry teacher at Wilson memorial High School in
Fishersville, Virginia. She seems to thrive on interaction with her students and
demands great things from them. She is renting a small house in Afton, Virginia,
a mere 15 minutes drive from school - except when snow or ice don't allow her to
cross over the mountain and she must go around instead.
Brian and Jen are in their second year in St. Louis and have many interests -
gardening in the summertime and fitness all year round. Their careers are both
being advanced by peer recognition and by success as a Cardiology Fellow at
Washington University for Jen and a climb up the corporate ladder of Pfizer for
Brian .
David's duties as President of the American Gastroenterological Association have
taken him to far corners of the country and the globe this past year, but being
named President of this most prestigious organization is a fitting culmination
of a successful career in medicine. He looks forward to the possibility of
partial retirement in the years to come and especially to playing more golf.
Kristin continues to keep the computers running on the home front and in the
office as well as managing shopping centers and overseeing major reconstruction
projects in our home. She is happy, well, and looking forward to more
challenges.
We all send you and your family our (belated) wishes for a blessed Christmas and
a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year.