2021

Carola and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary in May of 2020, by staying home! Daughter Julia and son Cameron noted the day from their homes in St. Louis and Burlington, Vermont. We’ve been well situated in the high desert of Albuquerque, New Mexico for 30 years now and have no thoughts of moving, unless it’s to the colder climate of southern Colorado, or the warmth of Hawaii. Maybe both would be in order? We have spent lots of time on the Southwest Chief, riding the rails between here and St. Louis to visit our granddaughter, now 3, and a grandson was born in December, creating a second reason to go.

I’ve been back to Baltimore often in the past three years, because of the deaths of my mother and stepfather. Both lived to be 100, and died quietly at their home on Gittings Ave., which has now been sold to a friend of my brother Stuart (’68), who will take good care of it. It took all four of us children six months to empty the house and ready it for sale. Word to the wise: don’t leave that job to your kids; get rid of your stuff before you die! Overall, we are healthy, save for heart valve problems which apparently run in the family. I had one of mine (mitral) replaced with a bovine one in 2014. It keeps on ticking ….

After spending a decade working with NM Indian tribes, I retired four years ago from running a tribal economic development company and took up a board position at an economic development think tank. I spent five weeks in China in 2018, traveling for business and pleasure, including two weeks on my own, visiting astonishing places like Ping Yao and Zhangjaijie and riding real trains across China. Twenty-course meals, toasting, squat toilets, and Chinese birthday parties were all part of the experience! In 2019, I met up with some of my Chinese friends in London, for a two-week visit, poking around some of its nooks and crannies. Our 2020 plans were of course curtailed by the pandemic.

Now, as of April, we are double-dosed with vaccine and ready to get back to St. Louis soon.