Holiday Greetings 2023

 

S E A S O N S    G R E E T I N G S  2023

Doing away with the traditional “Greetings” or To Whom, or Dear… let’s get right to the Truth.. It’s been One Hell of a Year for this particular branch of the Whalen family Tree…. This letter won’t say all that could or should be said, however, in the words of the apparently immortal  philosophers known loosely as the rolling stones “You Can’t Always Get What You want but if you try sometimes You’ll Get What You Need— So I Want you to read this holiday letter and I need to get it written and into your space. 

It’s been a plain and simple roller coaster of a year.  We started out… like on January 5th learning that our daughter Amanda and her husband Caleb would be turning their family of two into a family of three sometime in the fall.  A couple of months then passed with not too much excitement except for some continued work on getting Grandma and Grandpa Whalen’s medical situation (Medicaid application and some estate stuff straightened up a bit) and that could be seen as the roller coaster going up the first really big hill.

In the very first days of May the coaster broke over the top and Jon and Celia brought our granddaughter Leia into the world (note the name and guess the date— okay you got it Star Wars Day  “May the 4th” … be with you… this of course was one of the emotional high points of 23.  

Breanna made a relationship change and moved into a better living space right in that same calendar space.  She has had her job changes this year and they have been a roller coaster all their own.

And then came June… and the coaster went from a high space to a very low spot emotionally  in the blink of an eye as Grandma Jane’s health took a dramatic turn for the worse and Jim’s brother Don who had been having periodic problems for the past couple years also started to sink.  June 13th saw Grandma Jane’s health dive and Don being hospitalized ..placed on a vent.. and falling into an unconscious state and then being treated for severe liver and kidney difficulties. 

On June 20th grandma Jane turned 86 and the Good Lord determined her party was to be held in heaven as she passed away late in the afternoon on that day.  

As it became fairly obvious that Don’s health problems and recovery might be long-term and significant the decision was made to find a simpler housing situation for him upon his release  (People plan and God smiles and shakes his head).. so… Jim’s brother Mike (along with Tina and Amber, Jim (and his crew)< Mel’s brother Darin (and friends…  and many others worked countless hours helping to get the “West Acres estate” cleaned out and cleaned up so that it wouldn’t be Don’s burden any more there are not enough thanks to be said for these efforts.  

Near the very end of June Don had recovered enough to be released for an extended rehab stay in Wapello, Iowa and though we knew the healing process might take several months there was some hope and so the roller coaster started to rise to another little high spot and yes.. Remember, Amanda and Caleb?  Well the baby growing process was going well.  But then.. as roller coasters do…

Don’s health took a rapid and dramatic turn for the worse and he was taken to the University of Iowa hospitals where in spite of several weeks worth of trying numerous medical interventions he eventually experienced life ending organ failures.  While it’s not easy to accept this sort of thing, Don was able to make his final wishes to give even after passing come to pass as his eyes were donated to help someone see better and his body also went to the medical school to further doctor training and research efforts.  “Can you make sure this happens because it’s better than being worm food?”  Don said several years ago…and so thanks Don you were generous even after leaving us on August 30th.  

Well remember in January when we got the news from Amanda?   Well do the math1 plus 8 makes 9 and how many months does it take to grow a baby?  Well it takes till exactly  September 19th at around 6:30.   And we now had another high spot on our roller coaster as Rowan Mitchell Dean emerged and started teaching his parents about real life.    

In October we kicked off the month by attending a “Tucker’s Wedding event” reminding us of good times in the past and then held a brief memorial meal for Don and a ton of his childhood friends from near and far  (along with members from the “Willem” clan..We swapped stories and saw some photos from years ago reminding us that life goes quick but old and new friends  are oh so valuable .. as part of that trip we were able to swing up to the Perry area and see several members of Mel’s family and a couple of other friends.  There has never been nor will there ever be enough time to see everyone on this trip we call our life and it seems that this year wanted to make that point one more time in November.

A little over a week ago as I first sat down to start drafting this year’s letter we learned that Jim’s uncle Larry Alter’s fairly generous, somewhat misunderstood, and aging hearts going to make it’s last few efforts.   And so the roller coaster fell a bit again… and YET

As I write this morning we have had a “Friendsgiving” with the people in our building and two “family” Thanksgivings.   I have had the time to think about and contact several friends and family members who have been here for us this year and for many many many many many years (I guess I’m getting old.. today is “Black Friday” and we are having some fun getting ready for Christmas which is a season of giving and new hope… And while it has been a hard year of loss there have been new lives to be hopeful and helpful in.   This is the kind of year that leaves you asking why and what is the meaning of life?  … and what comes to mind this morning are paraphrases  of answers  I’ve given or have heard and answers I now sort of understand more than ever…

Why?   answer—Why Not?

What is the meaning of Life?   Answer…. Life itself has no meaning… Life is your chance to create meaning.  

So let’s all get out there and use our gifts to create something meaningful for those we care for and even some we don’t even know… 

Blessings To You all.. Believe in the Golden Rule—Remember Love is Stronger than fear or hate… and at the end of each day.. sleep Well and Dream Big.

22 happy holiday review

HAPPY HOLIDAYS HOMIES-

Okay, there are some years where it is necessary to really over-describe our activities.   You know like the car salesman who advertises “premium pre-owned vehicles when all he has to sell are used cars.  Well, not this year Bubba… we have a lot of ground to cover and let’s face it most people have consumed enough social media that they have the attention span of a crazed jackrabbit on crack.  So..here we go.

The year started with the final days of Jack “We’ll see you when we see you” Tasler.  By all measures of life he took a full swing at the plate as a Dad, a cop, a real estate broker, and a farm owner-just to name a few jobs he did.  He enjoyed telling stories and planting trees which are two things that the world could always use.  He will be missed.  

While we won’t go through the whole saga of late January, housing developments brought about the emotional decision to pull up the stakes and leave Port Huron.  Well, actually we got pissed at the landlord and said “it’s time for us to Fly.”  After some consideration and clearing it with some deputy sheriff from Otsego County, we chose to move up to the Northern Michigan community of Gaylord.  Jon set down some roots in Port Huron with his wife to be and Breanna was and is hanging in Lansing with Cal so Mel and I packed up and with the help of Amanda, Caleb our other daughter from another mother, Kim, and Jon and Cecilia we crammed a house load of stuff and a lawn tractor into a U-Haul truck and took off to the Great White North. 

Shortly after moving Mel and I started pumping up the jams at Boomer Boot Camp, a fitness program for “experienced” folks at Big North Bar Bell.  We have made great strides bending, stretching, squatting, and lifting…. And that’s just getting out of bed to get there shortly after 6 A.M.  Seriously…it’s a great group of people doing what we can to stay healthy so that our wisdom can be shared for a little longer.  Thanks, Carrie and the other staff (for reminding me how many cuss words I can mumble under my breath and still smile). 

May was the start of the inevitable healthcare rollercoaster that aging families go through—yes your family will go through it too unless you are getting younger and the last time I checked no matter how much I drink you’re not getting younger.  After a number of falls (some of which had brother Don as collateral damage) Mom started care at a care facility and safety and health concerns make it the best place for her.  Unfortunately much like “Saved Like the Bell”  summer reruns aren’t welcome and neither was it good news when Dad’s health challenges led basically in the same direction over the next couple months.  If you want more details call…but that’s all about this for now. Later in May Gaylord (our new home base) was rocked by a once in a century tornado.  Fortunately, this and other nearby communities joined together to do a lot of immediate healing and although there was loss of life (and of course a trailer park) people kept their heads up and their nose to the grindstone, their shoulder to the wheel (see the Boomer workout for details)… seriously people joined together and by a few weeks everyone had power, water, and internet…and new places to live…. And our summer came in with hope and sunshine.  

In June Mel turned 30 (again) and Jim attended his (some mystery number year) class reunion.  We aren’t saying when Jim graduated, however, his high school was one of the first to insist students used tablets —okay they were the same ones Moses used to carve the commandments, but … oh well.  

Now, in early July there is this thing called “Alpenfest” in our town and I was convinced to enter the senior over 30 division of the “no hands allowed” Pizza eating contest.  With no practice or any idea how this worked team Jim (with family and friends cheering) made the podium.  Next year I’m bringing home the championship belt since I figured out how to pick up, drop, swallow, stuff and go… In later July Mel visited Perry and Jim revisited Burlington for a “few” days that turned into a month.  What happened—stress==Covid==a mini stroke—brother Don in the hospital while Jim also got Covid and poison Ivy just for fun.  You see… life is complicated, however with the help of the Willem “army” some plans and activities got on track so that the healthcare system didn’t gobble up all the family resources and people will have roofs over their heads.  Many challenges led to many lessons and summer disappeared.   

August, however, didn’t slip by without some great news…. Jon and his soon to be wife…dropped the “soon to be” and adding to that he became a step-dad instantly.  Oh in the family building “overachieving” category… they are expecting.  This goes to show you that the human race will produce good things if you wait and don’t try to tell the universe the timing of things.  In short, we are adding multiple family members by next letter and for goodness sake my kids better start doing their own blessed letters as this thing is turning into a novel.  For now, we welcome Cecelia and Chelsea to our carnival.  As fall rolled in Mel and Amanda renewed a sporting tradition of joining an official bowling league.  It wasn’t long until Caleb found out that bowling can be enjoyable and even when it’s not there’s plenty of “beverages” to provide incentive and attitude adjustment.  

October brought out the Halloween in all of us and as November came in we went to the Lions-Packers game where Caleb’s Lions squeaked out a win which was good because leaving Detroit with all our Packers gear on might have been a little more colorful in terms of language.  

Well… that pretty much brings us up to Thanksgiving… We spent the “meal” part—the most important part with Caleg’s clan at his Aunt’s home.  The food was fantastic, the conversation was friendly, and the dogs were lively and entertaining…oh and the beer was cold.  If you are asking for more than that then you have truly forgotten how to be thankful and “no turkey and pie for you!” 

It’s four weeks until  Christmas and five weeks until the ball drops.  You never know what might happen for sure, and yet the wise folks out there will remember…

Life can change without much warning

So count your blessings every morning

and if the day goes just all right

Count them twice again at night 

Life is full of crazy dances

So it’s okay to take some chances

Have some fun enjoy some labor

But always Love thy Neighbor

Share some Peace and Joy…now and always

The Whalens’

Holiday letter 2021

 Dear Friends, Family, Followers and Other thing that start with F—

Well it’s hard to believe (anything that comes out of any capitol anywhere) that another holiday season has rolled around and therefore another holiday letter is being sent out over  the cyber web and on paper.  If you are reading this electronically  feel good about yourself because you have reduced your carbon footprint.  Quit eating so many beans reducing your emissions  and you stand a real good chance of becoming carbon neutral next year whatever that means.  Now before we review what has been a fairly meaningful  year it seems appropriate to acknowledge  what follows may irritate  the ACLU, the KKK, the NRA, and the PTA so WTH.  If that alphabet soup doesn’t make sense well  I guess  this whole  letter is a SNAFU and I’m SOL  PDQ —oh well LOL.

Now  here we go....

Early in 2021 we had a houseful of people under the roof and  a chicken.  As the year moved forward we have reduced the number of people yet we still have the chicken.  Breanna  has taken her job skills to T.j. Max and met a good guy named Cal.  They have  moved from the Port to Michigan’s capital city and thus the IQ there has risen slightly—but not quite enough to impact state government much.  Breanna turned 21 this spring and has learned to be a pretty good mixologist... (you know makes her own creative drinks)...

Jon met a very fine woman (I haven’t  asked for permission to mention her name so...) and survived Big Lots  just as long as he could before getting a full-time gig with a local produce company.  His adulting  is going well.  

The COVID thing  hasn’t landed in our house except for Amanda and her Hubby... but that was last year now.  We aren’t reporting our vaccination statuses because we don’t want the variants to know who to attack and how.  All types of authorities and others  seem to keep insist on us wearing masks and in my case they are saying “cover up as much of your face as possible as it makes people sick.”  I don’t know the science behind that claim but so far no twitter groups or facebook  pages are disputing it. 

We’ve done a bunch of traveling  to Iowa this year to see family and friends and Mel is most certainly welcome back at any time.  Our family in Iowa is hanging. In there and they all send you best wishes.  

Amanda and Caleb took a trip to  North Dakota to see  how. To drill a hole in ice and stare at it for hours...I guess some people call that ice fishing but the only time I want to see that much ice it better be surrounded by margarita mix and tequila.  Oh and Amanda made a “Vegas” and other sites nearby trip ....but the biggest trip of all this year was  not a train ride or an airplane. Flight.  It was a little walk in a barn yard....otherwise called the wedding of Caleb dean and Amanda Whalen.  The happy couple was married on September 25th.  A few brain cells died that weekend but otherwise both families and so many of their  fantastic friends gathered to celebrate.  Amanda and Caleb continue to be moving. Ahead in great careers however they will eventually put all that in their own holiday letters...they are grown ups now.  

Well I can see by the  “Word Count” I’ve written over 500 words  already and that’s about all the words I know so let’s wrap this up shall we?  We hope this letter and this whole year has provided a few. Bits of news and a smile or two.  We hope no one takes offense at anything we’ve said or done. With this letter or in real life, however it seems  that someone can find a way to take a offense or be a victim  for almost everything  so... here’s a little rhyme to end this... 

Be your life now  a boom or a bust

Though. A look. In the mirror bring a grin or disgust

May you dig deep inside and summon some trust

And forgiveness for others for that is a must

Find  love for your neighbor for things dismiss lust

Point out and change things that remain real unjust

Know that  hate, fear, and greed all turn ugly like rust

Work hard to share peace before returning to dust

Try to bring comfort to those  who are disturbed and when needed disturb those who have grown  far too comfortable—be blessed

The Whalens’

The annual review 2020 see you later

 HAPPY HOLIDAYS ALL!!!

Well it’s time for that good old year in review letter and who are we to deny you of the literary equivalent of a prostate exam... or mammogram depending upon your particular biology?  So here goes...

2020 sucked

What? Are you still looking for more?   Ok 

—ps—

Here’s a few details.....

All I remember about the first part of the year, is that it was going to be the roaring 20’s and we were all fired up about it....

We did  make a trip to Perry for the BRR  Ride and Amanda was the champ as she made the  whole distance.  Jim had an adrenaline imbalance and probably ended his cycling career....but maybe there will be future tandem efforts.  

Then Covid...but in other news for the first part of the year.  We moved.  I’m not providing the new address because the IRS and FBI are sneaky and some of you will cave under “questionable” interrogation attempts like “Rumor has it you’ve stopped beating your spouse...is that true?”  Or Do you think I look fat in this?   Well we moved into a small but functional house with a large and what will be a nice functional outdoor space in a year or two.  Let’s just say the place has potential.  When exactly did we move?  Well the day our Governor declared that no one who wasn’t an essential worker going to work wasn’t supposed to be out in public.  So that created a bit of a headache as we weren’t sure the U-Haul guy was going to  let us drive the truck off the lot after spending an hour going through the no-contact rental process which included taking pictures of the vehicle and a license and sending in a stool sample from a three-legged elephant wearing a mask.  Anyway we took all of our stuff on a cross-town outing and piled it all in here.... Someday we will get it sorted out and if not we have a fire pit now just saying...

Amazingly  the only thing that sustained damage in the move was our dryer and as it turned out our dryer wouldn’t fit in the utility room space anyway.  Now we have  an economy size dryer which we bought from the same people who brought you the fun-sized candy bar... but life goes on.

 On the “livelihood” front Mel continues to provide smiling customer service at Meijer which is Michigan’s version of  a store like Wal-Mart but far cleaner and with fewer YouTube videos.  Amanda is still the best emergency worker in her part of the state and her soon to be Hubby, Caleb is out there keeping the streets/roads/and homes safe for all citizens.  They weathered a bout of the “rona”  and are two of the front-line folks you keep hearing deserve your thanks.... So give them thanks and a little more  pay which is the thanks that keeps on thanking.  

Jon started a retail job at a national retailer that we won’t mention except  that a clue would be  you will have no problem parking because all the stores have B?G L?t?....

Breanna is still doing her  design and costuming small businesses and has switched from  a fabric store side job to Amazon.  Working in the world’s largest shipping  company has given her body a workout and don’t tell anyone but she is starting to have a few muscles  appear here and there.  If she sticks with it—and that’s a 50/50  deal—it will soon be called “Branazon”

In addition what am I doing these days, “as little as possible”?  Well writing a blog  and creating a couple of podcasts.  The blog is two years and 18,000 + reads old and the podcasts combined have topped  2000 downloads (including. The D-Dub Shoutout featuring Donny from the River City also known as my brother).. Check us out on nearly every podcast provider including Pandora, Spotify , ITunes and if you adjust your aluminum hat just right you can get it  there too.  

In travel and tragedy ...

Breanna made a good trip to Cali and made it back before the rona shut that down.  Amanda and Caleb went out to the coast camping with friends and had a great time.  They didn’t see bigfoot and has anyone seen bigfoot lately or have all those mysterious creatures been under quarantine for a few years... as soon as we solve the mystery /curse of Oak Island we’ll let you know on the bigfoot thing unless we get abducted by some of those ancient aliens.  

Mel and Jim have made a couple trips to Iowa and that about wraps up the big travel  stuff unless you count  walking.  Oh and on the walking front...Just last week Jim made his annual walking goal and that isn’t remarkable except for the fact that in June he was the recipient of a kiss from a Chrysler SUV that is.  Actually it was a Yukon and luckily while the vehicle was going 25 mph my guardian angels were flying 30 and so what happened was...

Well what happens when you get hit  buy a car...you make sure you find your hat get up and walk ten blocks home ) so what if you end up in the ER later—they don’t x-ray down far enough so you wind up walking on a broken leg for the summer etc..etc...). 

in short I have some damage to my shoulder ending my pro basketball prospects but all in all life goes on in that regard too.

Since other people like to feature their  pets...it wouldn’t  seem right to finish up without a  word or two about ours... Isis —yes we have a pet named Isis...because  we named it before the terrorists became popular is our big black 10 year-old Lab puppy who needs to slow down and quit whining (which makes her just like 80% of the politicians we had to endure all year.  To round off the line up or should I say “oval?” We welcomed Breanna‘s latest pet chicken.  Before you get all strange....ask yourself...does my pet make breakfast every day?”   Rosalina  will hop up and fly just high enough to grab your food so if you stop by don’t hold  anything you are eating  too low.  

So that’s about all you can handle in a year that has been a little more than any of us wants to remember.  But if you want to remember anything from this year try this...We care about all of you.  We will keep moving forward and help you move forward into a better year next year.  We still know that life is not fair and that there will be no whining.  Mostly we know that going into 2021 there are a lot of questions life will bring and as always “Love is the Answer”.  And Love is (almost) All you Need

Peace and Joy Be With You

The Whalens 

Roaring into the 20s— But saluting 2019 first

 so here is our holiday letter for 2019 read and enjoy and look for more highlights coming soon

Welcome to a decade of highlights from our family. Some people keep track of things in a family Bible and Moses carved out some things on some tablets so we decided to keep track on this and you can view it on your tablet or your phones or your computers or probably in your implanted chip  before the decade is out we want to start over with a salute 2019 and a thank you to everyone who made our year what it was but it’s good bad and ugly we have learned and laughed and lived through those experiences

Happy Holidays Again!!!

Well here it is once again time to gather around an open fire and roast some chestnuts —I consider myself a fairly intelligent person, but I have no idea why we roast chestnuts, how they taste roasted or what smell they give off while roasting. Personally, I’d rather eat some good old Mr. Peanut offerings and sip on a cold brew while preparing for the inevitable task of writing this letter—but that’s just me...and whatever happens I’m going to finish this letter today.

What happened in 2019–The beginning of the year is a long time ago, but crawling into the “way back” machine I do remember that a good deal of January and the beginning of February was spent getting down to diagnosing my adrenaline imbalance. After some medications and meditations and general rethinking life, we’ve decided that I’ll never be quite right in the head or body again—and since that’s never concerned me much before, I’m over it now and moving forward in life.

As Spring rolled on through, Amanda finished giving Lake Superior State money and she got a piece of paper in return. This paper says she can drive a big truck with sirens fast and put your house out when it is on fire. She also has the medical training to treat you in nearly every emergency medical situation known to man as a fully qualified paramedic. Talk about job security... she has jobs in her future that will always depend on people doing dumb things while drinking, starting fires, driving, and saying things like “I wonder what happens if we push this button?” Anyway she earned her bachelor’s degree in saving idiots like me magna cum laude. Breanna took a trip West and worked for Jo Anne’s Fabric in California during the summer. While that experience might not have turned out exactly like it was planned, she made the most of the opportunity to learn and grow which wouldn’t hurt all of us from time to time. She continues to make amazing costume clothing, accessories, and multimedia products for fun and money. Her goals are to use her intelligence and creativity to create cool things and help other people get their voice out there through modern tech. She knows more than she thinks and will reach some great goals in the years to come, whereas my goal is to continue to be able to put one sock on each foot.

Mel continues to survive and sometimes excel in the world of megastore retail and on the days that don’t go well she has good friends to count on and drink with occasionally...

The RAGBRAI ride ended up in Southeast Iowa this summer and created an opportunity for an impromptu “Willem” Family reunion/get together. Rumor has it that that there were a few snickers, off-color remarks, and while no official count was taken we moved the recycling process of a substantial quantity of cans forward by doing our public duty to ensure that they were empty before being returned for processing. Don’t ever let it be said that we don’t care about the environment as several of the cyclists and others provided natural irrigation throughout the bike ride and our family celebration. It was great to see everyone who could make it and make some new memories we can argue about the next time we get together.

As fall fell and the year started to slide closer to the roaring 20’s-Amanda agreed to marry her great boyfriend, Caleb Dean. He’s a good young police officer so we are not so much gaining a son-in-law as enhancing our ability to provide our own security force. They have a date in 2021 and I won’t provide details because I’m not even sure I’m invited...but they also bought a great house in the Great White North of Michigan and you all can visit as they live in the country right near a nature preserve and have a nice tent you can rent from them... j.k. they expect to meet a lot of you and would enjoy visitors.

To summarize 2019... we had a good year...not a great year in all regards but as always we avoid our old mistakes by making new ones and learn how to live and love a little more. We make no promises about what will happen next year unless we win the lottery and then we’ll let you know what happened. All we can say is if you are reading this we think of you often and only cuss occasionally. We hope you have a healthy Holiday Season. The 20’s start in just a few days... let’s all get ready and when the time comes start roaring!!!

Peace and Joy to All,