Zev Family Newsletter 2021

What are we grateful for in 2021?  Foremost for healthy family and friends!  None of our family caught covid, and none of our friends died from it this year.  With everyone being vaccinated, family events were back on – hurray!  We attended nephew Michael’s wedding to Danielle in June which was a lovely event. And in November, we had our traditional (i.e., in person!) Schuster-Picus-Katz Thanksgiving, with 30 people attending, and it was very special to see everyone.

We actually took several trips this year, all to visit family.  In July, Marc and Jackie went to Portland to visit cousins Kevin and Rachel, and the four of us went to the Quilt Festival in Sisters, Oregon.  This is an annual outdoor event where people hang quilts outside all the stores. It was a little smaller than last time, but there were still plenty of truly amazing quilts.  Later in the month, Marc and Jackie visited Benjamin and Delaney in St. Louis.  Mostly we just hung out and played games, but we did go to the Zoo, City Museum, and we did an Escape room, all of which were a lot of fun.  Then in October, Jackie and her Mom went to Detroit to visit Jackie’s aunts and cousins. It was wonderful to see everyone.

We are glad to be able to go to the theater again! The most memorable show was “the Enigmatist” at the Geffen – a one-man show by New York crossword puzzle creator David Kwong, that was an amazing combination of puzzles, word play, and magic.  Other enjoyable shows included Hamilton, Gilbert & Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance, Mamma Mia, and the Band’s Visit.  We saw a couple of other shows, too, which were apparently less memorable, because I can’t think of what they were.

Jackie is also grateful to be able to mostly work from home.  She does go in several times a month when she needs equipment that is only on site, but most of the time, she can save herself the half-hour commute (each way) by working from home.  Covid has had one positive effect!  Work has also been pretty fun lately – now that she’s been a manager for almost four years, the management part of her job no longer stresses her, and the technical part continues to be challenging and enjoyable.

In 2021, Marc, who is retired, volunteered to join the board of a non-profit called Boundless Brilliance, which works to increase the number of girls in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields by working with elementary school kids.  He also has started welding, creating people out of wrought iron.  Go to wroughtenpeople.marczev.com to see his creations.

Jonathan continues to work for Sequoia Research and likes his job very much.  His relationship with Emily has also continued.  What is new in his life is that over the summer he bought a house.  He bought a two-room townhome in Torrance about three miles from his office.  This inspired Benjamin (whose job and (married) relationship to Delaney has also continued) to do the same thing.  Benjamin bought a three-bedroom house in St. Louis.  So both boys are homeowners now.  Jonathan promptly discovered the joys of home ownership when his water heater gave out just a few months after he bought the house.  It was not a surprise – the home inspector has warned him that it was very old.  He had a home warranty, so the new water heater was free, but it still cost him quite a bit to get the system up to code and for installation.  Benjamin and Delaney also adopted a kitten this year – now both boys have two cats! We remain petless, having lost Pippin to old age in 2020.

Wishing you only the best in 2022!

Marc & Jackie