Christmas Letter 2002

Some comments on last year's Christmas Letter (hereinafter "Letter 2001"): "Mystical!" - Idaho Sun Times; "A dazzling performance!" - Sacramento Bee; "Hysterical! Laugh out loud funny!!" - Iowa City Yellow Pages; "I laughed, I cried, it was better than Cats!" - A. Loyd Webber; "Spine-tingling, riveting, edge-of-your-seat action! Run, don't walk to the Christmas Letter!" - Architectual Digest; "We disagreed with the premise, so we didn't review it and won't print it." - New York Times; The Christmas Letter is a beacon of light to us all and indeed, may eventually bring about world peace." - P. Curtin (no relation).

Yes, its that time of year again - the Christmas Letter 2002! I had such a nice response to my Letter 2001, and I had so much fun writing it, that I thought I would give it another go. (If you did not receive a copy of the Letter 2001 and would like to read it, simply click here.) [Note to blog audience - that joke was much funnier when you were reading a paper copy of this letter, but while reading it on a computer, you could actually click on the link, so it doesn't seem as funny. Of course, since I don't know how to link to another article, nothing will happen when you click, so I guess its still kind of amuzing. But you can read the 2001 Letter on this blog]. Plus, as is the case with so many of you whom we love, like or feel a guitly pang to keep in touch with once a year, we are not able to see you and speak to you as often as we would like, so it does serve as a nice little update.

For those of you just tuning in, when we last left our hero, we explored the "bragging" Christmas Letter. This year, I have to take issue with another kind of Christmas letter that we'll call the "Therapy Letter". We have all received the Therapy Letter that someone writes, near as I can figure, because it is cheaper than seeing a psychiatrist. In this wondrous season of peace and joy we are subject to eight pages of therapy notes on candy cane bordered paper: "I can't believe another year has gone by; where does the time go? With my gout acting up again, I'm not very mobile, so I'm doing all my shopping on the QVC shopping channel again. Herb's business is still in receivership, but he collected a settlement on his botched hernia operation, so we took a Disney cruise this year! Little Billy is seven now, and he has finally stopped kicking the dog. he loves school, and all the talk of the "glue incident" seems to have quieted. Sally is fifteen now and she's growing up too fast, but not so fast that she can be tried as an adult, thank goodness for that! Lastly, please remember our cat Fluffy in your prayers, as she is recovering from a recent accident. Who knew that a bug zapper could give off all that electricity?"

Fortunately, the Curtin family has been blessed this year and you'll receive no such news from us! The girls are great - Emma is a wonderful 3 and a half year old, going on 16! (Seriously. Its some sort of weird genetic thing. Fortunately, she'll be 4 the next year, but look out in 2005 when she's 11 and 38.) She is in a "3s" program and the Community Cooperative Nursery School and, as ususal, is having a ball! Julia is one and a half and about as cute as a child can be. She is starting to speak quite a bit now, but for a while there everything was pretty much a 'cow', because that's all she said all day long (maybe its all that red meat I ate growing up). They give us so much joy everyday, they ought to charge us a fee to be their Mommy and Daddy - its the greatest gig in the world. Kat celebrated the tenth anniversary of her 25th birthday this year. 35 came like a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge free ATM. As if she wasn't busy enough chasing the girls around everyday and taking them to ballet, music and school, she is now running a fundraising art show for Emma's school. (any budding Van Goghs out there, send your paintings and ears to the address on the envelope). Kat also celebrated our sixth anniversary in October and, as usual, I celebrated the fact that she has a weak spot for a semi-intelligent, occasionally witty, overgrown adolescent who worships the ground she walks on. As for me, well, I turned Larry Bird this year (I don't have to tell anyone Larry Bird's jersey number, do I?), but I only feel Don Mattingly (see previous paranthetical). My job is great, my golf game isn't, and I spend waay too much time on the former and not nealry enough on the latter. As for the year's events, Kat and I took a fantastic trip to California for one of my Boston College rommates' (J.J.) wedding. The wedding was at a beautiful vineyard in Napa, so Kat and I went out a week early with another BC roommate, Mark Amorosi and his wife Sharon, and we toured San Francisco (stayed with our buddy H, had too much fun to be healthy); saw Kat's college roommate Robin and her husband Lux in Tiburon; toured Carmel, Big Sur, Napa and.....(drum roll please), Amo and I played Pebble Beach (Pebble freakin Beach!!!). Needless to say, it was unbelievable and i still get a jolt just writing about it (I shot 92 for those who care). It was a tremendous trip with very good friends and it was definitely the highlight of the year. The Burns, Curtins and Gormans also spent a week on Nantucket this year - an annual trip that gets better every year. We left the tab open at our favorite bar, The Rope Walk, in anticipation of being back next year. A Curtin family reunion rounded out the summer of fun, after which we were very content to hang out at home all Fall. We started planning a home expansion, so keep us in your prayers this coming year. If I survive the construction, its going to be a great home addition!

Well, that's all the time I have, you've been a great audience. We hope and pray this Letter finds you all safe, healthy and happy. Happy Holidays and a wonderful 2003!