Friday, December 25, 2020

Merry Christmas

Our family would like to wish you the very merriest of Christmases, and a most Happy New Year. Please celebrate with us the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Like many of you, we experienced a 2020 like no other year, experiencing constant change. We’d like to think we were able to get through it, thankful for God’s guidance and provision.

We became empty nesters this year. On October first Matthew moved to a charming house in Summerhill, taking his cat with him. Two weeks later our beloved Barney passed away, leaving the house all the more quiet. Now Dave is left to bark at squirrels by himself. We have made some progress decluttering the house, and worked to make Matthew’s old downstairs bedroom into an art studio for Ceil.

Matthew had been on the front lines of the pandemic working at Whole Foods. He also worked a few months at the farm at the downtown Good Samaritan Health Center, where he’d worked last summer. Matthew wanted to try his chops at cooking, and landed a job at one of the finest restaurants in town: Ford Fry’s Beetlecat in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward. In November we went for rare, but delicious meal there for Ceil’s birthday.

Anna had an up and down year. When covid hit she lost both her jobs, then her car died. In April she launched a hilarious Quarantine Diaries email newsletter that garnered a large following, and sold Quarantine Diaries merchandise to followers. Anna landed a full-time job in Midtown, and bought another car. She made several trips back to Athens, plus a fall road trip with friends to Savannah. She still does freelance work for Grace Athens Church.

Will had a busy year at the hospital. Mary-Clayton continues to work from home. They got a lot of work done on their house in Mozley Park this year, including building a back deck and laying down sod. Will regularly golfs with friends. He and Mary-Clayton took a golf trip to Pinehurst, beach trip to St. Augustine, helped Thomas & Holly move to Ann Arbor, and tripped to Birmingham for Joel’s wedding.

Ceil taught remotely for several months, preparing art lessons her kids could complete at home with their families. She took several trips back to Jefferson to see her mother. Throughout the pandemic Ceil continued her work with the women and children at The Table on Delk.

In March Dave and a friend road-tripped to Memphis to visit friends, catching the last NBA game before sports shut down. Work shifted to the house for several months (and Jefferson for a week), then gradually back to the office. His is the only department back, so there’s plenty of room to spread out. Dave made several trips down to Macon to see his parents.

We attended a large Atlanta wedding in January, a small September wedding in Newnan, and drove to Richmond for an intimate outdoor wedding in November. Great times visiting friends while safe distancing. Plenty we miss during these crazy times, but thankful everyone has remained healthy.

We look forward to see what God has in store for us in 2021. Merry Christmas!

No comments: