Kelly just signed up for another 18 months at her apartment in Washington, D.C. I often reserve a workspace where I can get out of the apartment and sit in a nice environment to get some work done. All this is within walking distance of lots of restaurants, a couple of nice grocery stores, coffee shops, a book store, and just a block away from the Metro train station that can take you anywhere in the area including the airport. We are glad she decided not to switch apartments to another area.
Lorena and I flew up from Mexico and are in Washington, D.C. for Christmas for the second year in a row. Kelly has to work today and tomorrow, so Lorena and I are enjoying just hanging out in this crazy town. It amazes me that we enjoy it so much. There are so many things to do and see with history, art, food, and shopping opportunities everywhere one looks. The weather has been clear and crisp since we got where which is what one wants and expects for this time of year in D.C. Hopefully the Texas and/or Mexico houses will be completed by next year so the kids can come to see us over the holidays.
Troy sneaked away from the AGU conference long enough to get coffee with Kelly. He absolutely qualifies as an uncle in the best sense of the word. I cannot wait to see how it went with them. I am sure it was great.
The point of Thanksgiving is thankfulness to God. I am profoundly thankful to God for the family He gave Lorena and I. We had a beautiful time together.
We were very grateful to have Christian and Kelly here with us for Thanksgiving this year. We went to a wedding, an art museum, Barrio Antiguo de Monterrey (amazing), ate lots of good food, made plans for the layout of the new house up on the hill, and had some deep, but sometimes not so easy talks. We love our kids and looking forward to seeing them in a couple of weeks in Washington, D.C.
Kelly arrived here Sunday afternoon and then Christian arrived last night. There amazing Tío Lauro ran to the airport both times (and hour each way, plus and hour to get from his house in Santiago to here). Both times we went to Rincon Sonorense in El Centrito de San Pedro to eat tacos. That is turning into somewhat of a tradition. Afterward, everyone, including Tío Lynn, slept at the apartments. It is just an amazing gift to have everyone here in one place. Today, we are going to head out to do some shopping and to show some parts of San Pedro to the kids.
Grandma Conchita has been in the hospital for the last three days. She is OK. Lots of tests were performed and the prognosis is good, but the doctors said she needs to exercise more and eat both less and better. I am so impressed with the support she received from her children. Tío Lauro dropped everything he was doing and ran to take her to the hospital when her fever rose and she was feeling bad. Lorena and Lynn dropped everything and ran to the hospital to provide moral support. They are good children. What a gift.
I know I put up an image like this yesterday, but I went out onto the deck and decided to take another that was zoomed in a little more. We are VERY much looking forward to moving up there. We just got notice from the kids about when they will arrive for Thanksgiving and we are very excited to both see them and show them the improvements to our new places!
I am grateful for my family. Grandma Conchita and Tío Lynn bought a steak and are bringing it over to grill and listen to the election results. We are ALL Trumpistas tonight! The dynamic down here in Mexico is VERY interesting. With Trump putting pressure on Presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum to stop the human and drug trafficking of the cartels or he will impose huge tariffs on Mexican imports, she is in a really tight spot because no one has a lot of control over the cartel. If the tariffs don’t work Trump says he will send the Marines which changes the equation dramatically. Interesting times.
Lorena and I got married in Monterrey 32 years ago today, not too far from where we are living now in San Pedro. It was one of the very best decision I ever made and am more thankful than ever that Lorena was willing to marry me. We are going to go out and celebrate tomorrow night.
Lynn grilled steak, lamb, and hot dogs for the whole family at a party thrown for me on our terrace. It was an amazing evening. Everyone sang “La mañanitas” before I blew out the candles on the cake at the right which is a mango cake, my favorite by far. The only way the party could have possibly been better is if Kelly and Christian would have been there. I am thankful to be here with my Mexican family and particularly thankful on my 69th birthday to have time with Grandma Conchita at this stage of our lives.
The plans for the house we hope to construct, God willing, came three weeks late, but very nicely the arrived the morning of my birthday. We love the plans. We are not going to do much celebrating today, but have plans for our Pad Thai cooking class on Friday, a big family blowout (not unlike those of Grandpa Milo) on Saturday with lots of meat (Cordero a la Griega, chuleton, Mexican hot dogs, etc.), and a visit to Aló Café early, maybe Sunday afternoon. We heard from both of the kids and lots of friends so it has been a very nice day so far!
Lorena spent the night with Grandma Conchita last night so they could get up early to get ready for a bridal shower for the bride-to-be of one of Lorena’s youngest cousins. They had a great time, met some new people from the bride’s side of the family, saw Lorena’s Tío Abel, ate some good food, and are all a twitter about going to the wedding itself with the whole family, including Kelly and Christian over Thanksgiving weekend.
Christian’s birthday is past, but I have thought about it a lot of the last few days. It is a gift to have him as my son. It is not so much that he is so accomplished although few attain to the heights he has achieved at a young age (Summa Cum Laude Honors Applied Mathematics BS at 18, PhD in a VERY mathy aspect of Electrical Engineering–information theory, probability, and statistics–at age 23, 100% research appointment at MIT at 24, etc.), but that he is kind and not aggrandizing in the least. He got his PhD five years before I got mine and was instrumental in helping me with my publications, dissertation, and dissertation defense. He did stuff like help me get going on LaTeX, assure my equations were consistent, and all kinds of moral support. He attended both my dissertation defense and my graduation. The picture above was taken after my graduation last December. He always shows up. A gift.
One of the best days of my life was when Christian was born. He continues to be a gift that keeps on giving. It is hard to describe what has done, what he is doing, and who he has become. It is not necessarily talent and intelligence that got him to where he is, but attitude and work ethic. A book came out when Christian was 12 years old about doing hard things. I suppose the premise of the book was not so bad, but it did not seem like the two guys that wrote it had done anything that was truly hard. It was more about pushing an agenda, bragging about things just about anyone with a modicum of ability could do, and building a platform to pontificate. Christian actually DID hard things and he did them quietly in a way that contributed rather than sought self-aggrandization. He still operates that way. Few really knows the effort that was required to get to where he is and do what he does.
I am proud he is my son.
Tío Lauro got back home from his family vacation to Veracruz on Saturday. He picked up Grandma Conchita after meeting and we all went to El Gran Pastor for cabrito. Lauro ordered a half cabrito for the table and we were only able to eat about half of that. After lunch, we went to a very high-end grocery store named CityMarket, then went to our favorite coffee house in San Pedro, Café Punta del Cielo. Can hardly wait to take Uncle Doug there. On the way home, we stopped by a jam-full CostCo to buy a counter-top oven, and finished the night hanging out and talking at the apartment. We hope he comes back a lot.
I am very grateful to my brother because he reminded me and reminded me until I got the Living Trust, Last Wills and Testaments, Financial Powers of Attorney, and Medical Powers of Attorney completed, signed, and notarized before we head down to Mexico for a (relatively) short stint. It was just not that hard. We have the hard copy version of all these documents in a safe place along with soft copies for everyone involved. Our good friends, James and Janet Coker were kind to take the time to witness a bazillion signatures and their son, Brad’s, administrator notarized them for us. To top it off, it gave us an excuse to take James and Jan to Baked for lunch. It has been a busy, but amazing couple of days.
I am sorry that I am not with Lorena and the kids in New York City right now. This is Lorena’s first time there and she is ecstatic, mostly because of the kids, but also because New York City, for all its foibles and failures, is a magnificent place. The did a lot of things today, but the highlight was almost certainly the visit to MOMA and the spectacular Starry Night painting by Vincent Van Gogh which she has no seen, in person, and I have not. I cannot wait to go there myself. Tomorrow, Keith McNally’s equally spectacular Pastis Restaurant is on the schedule and it is killing me that I cannot be there.
This is the view from the top of Christian’s apartment building in Brooklyn, New York. Lorena flew in this afternoon to spend the week with him. Kelly is taking the train up from Washington, D.C. for the weekend. I am so sad that I cannot be there, too, but I have a business trip to Boston–that actually should be a phenomenal time with the Thrive Bioscience team. Honestly, it is very exciting to me that the kids have taken their own paths and are living in places that, while I might not have chosen to live, are spectacular, storied places. It is a chaotic time, not only in terms of the lives of our children, but in the world writ large. The kids are doing the best they know to do and, I believe, loving Christ and trying to do what God gives them to do.
This view is from the same location as the first image. My Finnish great grandparents arrived in America and were receive on Ellis Island (the island in the image) in the late 1800’s. This is a powerful image and one that evokes a sense of gratitude in me. God put me at the time and place that was in accord with His plan. And now Christian lives within view of where they arrive. I am humbled before God.
Lorena and I are thankful for our fathers. From our view, they had out-sized impacts on the world in which they lived as manifested by how much they are missed now that they are gone. They were flawed like anyone else, but we are especially grateful for their attitudes and understanding of Jesus Christ and our responsibility toward Him and Him alone. We believe those qualities of our fathers equipped us to handle the challenges and disappointments we have encountered of late in our own times and places in a way that does not allow the bad, even evil that plagues our world to rob us of our joy. Thank you Grandpa Lauro and Grandpa Milo.
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