Happy New Year & 2008 Recap

Happy New Year!  Below is our version of a holiday card.  When we got married, one of our vows was to help create healthy communities for families and children. Below we talk about our progress toward our vision and other life stuff.

In last year's recap, we talked about the relatively uneventful 2007 we had. Nothing dramatic happened. It was a mellow blend of every day joys and indignities. We also said that we didn't know how long that kind of stability would last with some ominous changes on the horizon. Unfortunately, we were on to something.  2008 was a roller coaster. The peaks were high. The valleys low.

The good news is that we made significant progress in realizing our vision. Andrea made partner at Kaiser. She was appointed Chief of Diversity at Kaiser San Jose Hospital, which enables her to expand underserved minorities' access to health care and teach colleagues to provide culturally competent care. She was appointed to the board of SJB Child Development Center, which provides quality day care and after school programs for low income families in the San Jose area. She also completed a pilot program she designed to help parents take better care of new borns. The results of the pilot were impressive for the simple, low cost intervention she designed. Kaiser is seriously considering implementation, though the economy could put the kabosh on it. Andrea's capacity to serve really surged this year. The long march to becoming a doctor is beginning to pay off.

Neal also made progress this year. Neal is still working for FAS.research, but is doing some independent consulting too. Through FAS, he's helping the Packard Foundation develop a strategy to accelerate the shift to sustainable agriculture in the U.S.  Packard's motivation is two-fold, to improve children's health and protect the environment. 

In his own practice, Neal helped launch a new consumer-facing online service called Divvy, which has an inventorying, scheduling, and payment mechanism that enables you to rent out anything to anybody. Need to schedule and collect rent on that vacation home you never go to?  No problem. Divvy can do that, plus help you generate revenue from that underutilized riding mower you have in the garage.  Neal is also helping the Schecter Family Foundation launch an online magazine and network for young adults to help them make decisions that are good for them, society, and the planet.  Neal won the contract to launch the magazine after helping to write the grant that secured substantial funding for the project.

Another milestone is that we bought a house.   We got lucky, though getting lucky took a lot of hard work and about 18 months.  Our townhouse in Mountain View is set in a charming little suburban forest walking distance from downtown and the train, and was affordable.  That's a combination we didn't think possible.  We have a guest room, so come visit!

And then there was our trip to Morocco.  That explains the picture above.  That's us at a palace restaurant in Marrakesh.  If you want a vacation that will blow your mind, then I highly recommend Morocco.  It's a cultural mixing zone like no other - Africa meets Islam meets Europe meets desert nomads.  The food and music are truly out of this world.  Not to mention the raw physical beauty of the greatly varied landscapes you encounter if you travel the country. From the romantic desert seascapes surrounding Essaouira to the stunning mountain oases in the Atlas range, you will be awed.  

The trip was a lot like our year.  High highs.  And low lows.  The lows mainly resulted from being hustled in every way imaginable.  How about this, being propositioned by a tour guide on a moped through the window of our cab while we're doing 40mph in traffic headed into Fez. Or how a "serendipitous" conversation in vegetable market with an English speaking local, who coincidentallly had lived in San Franciso, turned into a sales pitch for cooking lessons.  Oh, and then there was the time we bought these colorful geodes in a mountain pass - that turned out to be dyed.  

OK, I could go on.  Despite this, we learned that when you can get beyond the tourist dynamic, Moroccans are incredibly warm and fun loving people.  Engage with humor, and you'll be embraced.  And don't try to fool a Moroccan. We tried in a number of laughable ways in order to avoid high prices (telling shopkeepers we were Australian because Americans are charged more) or being pestered (wearing djellabahs to blend in).  They've seen it all.  You're just one in a very long line of visitors who have come and gone over the centuries.   

The highs were high.  What a fantastic year!  But the lows were low too.  Unexpectedly, we lost Andrea's dad Arnold in April.  Arnold's spirits had been rising as he made progress in a new writing career.  He was determined to get his ideas out there before he died. He thought he had about ten years left for this.  He self-published three books recently in a concerted effort.  He was working on his fourth when his heart gave out.  I read the introduction to the fourth book. His writing had improved dramatically since his first book.  This backdrop made the loss even more poignant.   We also lost our friend Woody Rixey, a Gorenflo family friend from the old days who Neal adopted as his Godfather a long time ago.  Woody's health had been deteriorating, so Neal took the opportunity to see Woody while he was still lucid.  Woody was an important role model, but also a blast to hang out with.  Neal got to tell Woody how much he loved and appreciated him before he died.  Then we lost Andrea's uncle on Thanksgiving, also unexpected.     

These losses hit us hard.  With the great blessings and losses this year, we have a much heightened sense of gratitude.  2008 supplied ample proof that life is both joyous and fleeting. This has made us appreciate it that much more.  What wonderful opportunities we have had to serve, explore, and enjoy.  Thank you for being part of our lives!  Let 2009 be yet another year that we as a community of friends and family seize the day, day after day.