We hope this letter finds you as happy as we are. We know that many of you have had health issues and losses this past year, and you've been in our prayers.
This has been an exciting, busy, and ultimately life-altering year for us. Deanna is now rapidly approaching her second birthday, and she is talking, running, learning, and growing with each passing day. It has been beautiful and amazing to watch her develop over the past year, beginning in January when she was not quite ten months and barely able to stand up on her own to this December when she is decorating Christmas cards, running through the house, opening doors, carrying on basic conversations, and starting to potty train.
Meanwhile, not that J.needed any more motivation to read, she joined an online book club with other stay-at-home-mothers and met her goal (fifty books) in November. She started a family genealogy page (www.Geni.com), so if you’re a family member who hasn’t joined and would like to, e-mail us so we can invite you. This is a great way to not only learn about our rich heritage – from all the different sides – but to keep up with family events as well.
S. captured a record 82 new oral history interviews this year, including a number of Dallas police officers, civic leaders, the first female mayor of Dallas, a group of U.S. Marines who participated in the Kennedy funeral, real estate executive Ebby Halliday, and a Parkland Hospital doctor—interviewed for the first time—who observed President Kennedy’s treatment in Trauma Room One.
After completing his graduate coursework in spring 2008, S. began work on his master’s thesis—a comprehensive study of The Sixth Floor Museum within the context of the political, social, and economic history of Dallas, 1963 to the present day. In July of this year, he successfully defended this thesis and deposited the 320-page manuscript at the University of Oklahoma Library, thus completing his master’s degree in museum studies. An identical manuscript was later added to the research library at The Sixth Floor Museum as the first full-length work which explores the institution’s history. This exhaustive three-year effort, while still working full-time at the Museum, was ultimately a rewarding and fulfilling experience.
Shortly thereafter, in October, the three of us made our first trip to Louisville, Kentucky, so that S. could attend the national Oral History Association annual conference, and J. could visit with her maid-of-honor for the first time since the wedding. Afterwards we met J.’s grandparents for a vacation at Walt Disney World where Deanna was able to enjoy her favorite Disney characters (Mickey Mouse, Pluto, Ariel, and Stitch), attractions (It’s A Small World, Kilamanjaro Safaris), and even Mickey’s “Not-so-Scary Halloween Party,” where we all went trick-or-treating throughout the Magic Kingdom.
In December, J. and S. attended SMU’s annual Celebration of Lights, which marked the tenth anniversary of their first date back in December 2000. And this year, Deanna came along for the first time.
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Looking back, it has been a fantastic year for us whether we’ve been changing diapers, citing footnotes, administering children’s Tylenol, proofreading chapters, reading storybooks, making pizza, celebrating achievements, or just relaxing on the couch with yet another DVD. Until next year.
We wish all of you a very happy holiday season and a fabulous new year!
With affection,
S., J., Deanna, and Cheshire Cat
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