Zev Family Newsletter 2022

2022 started with a Panama cruise that we had started planning in 2019. Sharon, Jonathan, and Emily came on the trip, as did nine other friends. The trip left from Fort Lauderdale, went through the Panama Canal, and ended in the Port of Los Angeles. We flew into Fort Lauderdale a day early so that we could see Uncle Walter, cousins Eric and Lloyd, and Emily’s grandparents. Emily’s grandparents live in Pennsylvania and Fort Meyers, and they came down to Fort Lauderdale to spend time with us. Sharon visited with a friend who doesn’t live in Florida, but was also there to go on a different cruise.

Having to test negative for covid at the docks to get on the ship really stressed Jackie out, but everyone tested negative, so in the end, it was not an issue.

The cruise was a ton of fun, despite the fact that the excursions in Colombia and Nicaragua were cancelled. (Colombia because they wouldn’t let us in, and Nicaragua because it was too dangerous.) We did have excursions in Panama City (to see the old locks) and Costa Rica, and two in Mexico. If you are not an Engineer, the locks are fun and impressive. If you are an Engineer, they are AMAZING! Marc and Jackie both read John McCullogh’s “The Path Between the Seas”, in preparation for the trip, and so had a good understanding of what it took to build the Canal in terms of engineering, politics, money, and lives.

For the most part the excursions were nice, but not particularly noteworthy. The exceptions were the locks and an excursion called “Adrenaline Adventure” in Mexico. We saw both the new locks (since we sailed through them) and the old locks at Mira flora. The “Adrenaline Adventure” was series of zip lines, rappelling, a mule ride, log traverses, and water chutes. It was so much fun!

One of the things we did to amuse ourselves on the cruise was to peruse the art gallery. We found an artist we liked, Ashton Howard, and bought two of his pieces. We also bought a piece by Lebo (David Le Batard). More on the consequences of *that* later!

The next month, we celebrated our anniversary in Las Vegas. We did the “stay for free as long as you go to the time share presentation” thing. However, it wasn’t as cheap as it could have been, because we dropped in on the studio of an artist we like, Austine. Turns out she passed away a few years ago, but her daughter has continued her work. The daughter showed us around the studio, and we bought one of Austine’s pieces.

Shortly thereafter, we learned that our youngest child was transitioning and is now using the name Georgia. The choice of Georgia stemmed from her given middle name at birth, George. When Jackie was asked how she felt about Georgia changing her name, Jackie’s response is, “Given our history with names, I always expected her to change her name; I just expected her to change her *last* name.” When people ask us how we feel about Georgia transitioning, we point out that Georgia is the same intelligent, sensitive, loving, curious, thoughtful, fun person she was before transition. Transitioning didn’t *change* who she is, it *affirmed* who she is.

Marc had a change as well. After being retired for 2 years, in April an opportunity came along for a job that seemed like it could be fun, so he accepted the offer. He is now working for Accenture (you might remember it as Anderson Consulting – or maybe not). He is working on a project to implement policy based on European internet laws (the digital services act). He works from home - Accenture has an office in LA but he’s only been there once. Apparently, there is a badge waiting for him, but he hasn’t picked it up – he doesn’t see the point.

In June, we resumed our annual Square Dancing Convention trips. We hadn’t gone for a couple of years due to covid. The 2022 convention was in Evansville, Indiana, about 45 minutes from Jill’s (Delaney’s Mom’s) house in Lawrenceville, Illinois. So, Marc, Jackie, and Jonathan all flew into St. Louis, and the five of us drove to Lawrenceville. We had a nice dinner with Jill, left Delaney with her, and the rest of us went on to Evansville. We were amused by the configuration of the hotel room bathroom and closet doors. The bathroom and closet shared one door, a barndoor, which either closed the bathroom or the closet, but not both. Interesting!

Dancing was fun, and it was great to see our Square Dancing friends again. Jackie brought lots of dancing clothes (since Georgia didn’t have any Square Dancing dresses), and had fun sharing clothes with her. Jackie and Georgia both bought new petticoats, and when Jackie left for LA, she left some of her outfits with Georgia.

In late July, Georgia and Delaney experienced the *joys* of homeowner ship, when St. Louis experienced a 100-year flood. Nothing quite like having the police pound on your door at 3am and yell at you that you have 5 minutes to get out of your house! The Des Peres river filled their basement to the ceiling and their garage, which is ground level, flooded with 2-3 feet of water. Fortunately, their house is about 3 feet higher than street level, and water never came into the house. They lost both cars and have had to replace every appliance in the basement. Also, their basement, which used to be a finished basement, is now an unfinished basement.

About a year ago, Delaney delighted us by letting us know that they had started lessons to convert to Judaism. The learning process took far less time than usual, due to Delaney’s excellent background and aptitude for languages. The final step, going to the mikvah, got delayed due to various logistics but in August the stars aligned, and Delaney became officially Jewish. Delaney and Georgia are fairly active in their Temple’s activities, so their Temple had a good idea of Delaney’s abilities. Consequently, in July they offered Delaney a job teaching Sunday school. The position is teaching first graders on Sundays and doing Zoom tutoring to learn Hebrew letters after school during the week. Delaney really enjoys teaching their kids about their community and being part of fun and fulfilling work.

In October, we went to San Diego for cousin Valerie’s marriage to Tyrone. Their wedding had a Sikh ceremony first and then a Jewish ceremony – it was very interesting and very well done. Georgia flew in to LA and we drove down together. Jonathan also drove down, and we had a marvelous weekend filled with family we hadn’t seen in a long time.

Because we had bought art on the cruise ship, Park West Gallery had been sending Marc emails saying, “here’s something else you might like.” He finally said, “we don’t buy art that way. We go on trips, and if we see something that we like, we get it and then it reminds us about the trip. If you want us to buy more art, you have to send us on a trip.” They responded with, “OK, how about a trip to Santa Barbara. We’ll pay for you to stay at the Ritz Carleton, and we’ll provide two meals each day. All you have to do is attend our art auctions while you are there." So, the following weekend, after work on Thursday, we went to Santa Barbara. We were amused to find that the bathroom door was a barn door. What is the deal with hotel bathroom doors being barn doors?!

Dinner was a buffet. (Actually, all the meals they provided were buffets.) We got our food and looked for a place to sit. There was a table of eight with two seats left, and the people looked like they were slightly younger than the average age in the room, so we chose that table. Well, the eight of us really bonded. We ate every meal provide by Park West together, and also one of the meals not provided by Park West. The event was well worth Park West’s investment of housing and meals. At dinner the first night, we all said we weren’t going to buy anything, but by the end of the weekend, all of us bought at least one piece. These “free” weekends have definitely not been free! But both times we got nice artwork out of it.

Our next trip was a trip to St. Louis for Thanksgiving to visit Georgia and Delaney. When we arrived, we learned that Marc and Delaney were not the only ones starting new jobs this year. Georgia had interviewed for a couple of positions, and both made job offers. The jobs were similar, so she accepted the one that offered her the higher salary, which is a *huge* jump in pay, and a slightly shorter commute.

Jackie hits 29 years with Northrop Grumman in January. Her job hasn’t changed much, and she’s still enjoying the work (except for writing performance reviews). Jonathan’s and Emily’s jobs are also unchanged. Marc is still volunteering for Boundless Brilliance, which works to close the gender gap in STEM leadership by engaging elementary school kids. Jackie is still on the board of her Temple’s Sisterhood, the San Fernando Valley branch of AAUW, the Engineers’ Council, and the Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ). However, the WRJ board position ends in March, and Jackie has not volunteered to take on a replacement position. So maybe she will go back to blogging, but don’t hold your breath.

We hope you had a great 2022, and we wish you a healthy, happy 2023!

Jackie and Marc