Christmas Letter 1996

Copyright © 1996 by Odell Sneeden Hathaway III

My Dear Friends,

At this time of the year—apart from the usual thoughts about how much Christmas is costing and how much weight we’re gaining—our thoughts turn to old friends and getting back in touch with them.

This year my life has been so full of joys and sorrows that, instead of sending you a card, I thought I would reconnect by letting you know about all the changes that have happened over the last twelve months.

This has been a very busy 1996, and it looks like it will lead to an even busier 1997!

The year started out with my buying my first home. It’s a lovely three-bedroom house in Vancouver, Washington, with a large yard and a stream running through the back. On summer nights you can hear the frogs singing in the water.

Along with a new house came a new companion—a dog named Perezvon, from The Brothers Karamazov. Unfortunately, he turned out to be more of a dog than I could handle. I purchased a ten-pound puppy and ended up with a hundred-pound monster! I was very sad when I had to take him back, simply because I couldn’t care for him properly.

Two weeks after moving in, I got my first snow—six inches that turned my yard into a winter wonderland (and I loved it!). Then came the floods, though I was lucky enough to have no problems.

Owning a home led to many new experiences—cutting the lawn, paying for water, and so on.

As the year continued into summer, something wonderful happened. On the night of the Olympic bombing, I checked my email and found a letter from someone in Montreal. I often get messages from people who’ve read my homepage, but this one was very special. Her name is XXXX (sounds like XXXX XXXX). She’s shy and doesn’t want me to tell too much about her.

All summer long we wrote to each other—over 250 letters so far—sharing our lives: our day-to-day moments, our pasts, our dreams, hopes, and fears. Finally, in September, XXXX and her mother came to Vancouver, BC, for a visit before moving there permanently.

I finally got to meet my email pal! We spent two wonderful days walking all over Vancouver and talking—just enjoying the feeling of being together. (A time I wished would never end.)

She did move to Vancouver, BC, and when she arrived, I met her plane. But the best time for us came over Thanksgiving weekend when we visited Victoria. We were supposed to go to the Empress Hotel for tea, but XXXX didn’t want to—so I asked her to marry me instead, and she said “OK.”

Like I said, next year looks to be even fuller than this one. XXXX will be visiting me for the first time over the holidays, and I hope she’ll decide to move to the U.S. In any case, we’re planning to be married in September.

Well, I know that much more has happened this year, but I don’t want to bore you to death. What I do want is to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a wonder-filled New Year.

Your friend,
Odell

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