A surprise wedding. Dinner with a king. Travel, travel, travel. Those are three highlights from our pretty amazing 2015, and we are grateful for every moment of this year. If you can stand some hyperbolic joy-mongering, please read on (if not, skip to the bottom to identify this year's crop of Celebrity Sightings and get on with wrapping your presents).
Janna's mother Helen turned 96 this year, and still lives independently (in a community) in Seattle. The five daughters see her a few times a year, but Gretchen (daughter #2 [in chronology only!]) and her family do the heavy lifting.
Our most amazing event this year happened when Kirk and his fiancée Katherine (DuPré) turned an engagement party into a surprise wedding on October 17 in Charleston. We were all there (I was scheduled to give a keynote speech at a conference at the College of Charleston, hence the pre-planned engagement party), and it was thrilling, joyful, fun, and beautiful. While they whispered the truth to the (as they call us) Parental Units a few days in advance, all the other relatives and friends were wonderfully surprised by the turn of events. They had a date set (April 30, 2016) but once Katherine found the perfect dress, they both figured why not save the expense, anxiety, time, and hubbub, and do it! Great fun.
In September, David was invited to a high-level event in St. Augustine, Florida, presided over by King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain (the city's 450 anniversary), and serendipity (and some clever maneuvering) produced this moment:
Other than that, the normal events of David's work (teaching, research, publication, lectures) and Janna's retirement (contract bridge, volunteering, grandchildren-watching) took us to Vancouver (conference), Madrid (book presentation at the Instituto Cervantes), Nashville (lecture), Pittsburgh (lecture), Spain again (Board meeting of the International Association of Hispanists, of which David is the President), back to Portugal and Spain yet again (UVa alumni trip through dazzling castle paradores, from Lisbon to Barcelona across the north of Spain —including a private dinner inside the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao), New York (4 Broadway shows, including the game-changing "Hamilton"), Charleston, St. Augustine, and, gulp, West Georgia.
Krista (daughter) and Chad (son-in-law), plus —objectively— The World's Cutest Grandchildren Austin (5) and Emma (3) take turns sharing Janna with David. Why not? Raleigh isn't far down the pike, and those dang kids ARE adorable!!
Chico ages. Foster ages. So do we. No complaints.
Here it is, that moment you've been waiting for. Silly Moments of Gratuitous Celebrity Worship (a bumper crop this year) (answers below):
1. Metropolitan opera star
2. Comedian/actress
3. "The Daily Show" regular who needs to control his temper more
4. My Life on the 'D' List
5. "Stop! In the Name of Love"
6. The cute Beattle
7. 5-time Tony Award Winner
8. Ms. President?
9. Started out on "ER," now on "The Affair"
10. When David Met Sally
Answers: Renée Fleming, Lily Tomlin, Louis Black, Kathy Griffin, Diana Ross, Paul McCartney, Audra McDonald, Hilary Clinton, Maura Tierney, Meg Ryan
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL! Our very best wishes for a healthful and peaceful 2016.
David and Janna
