Martha says: As our 3 grandkids get older and able to share in grown-up activities, they help me stay young.  One afternoon this summer, Gabriel (8) and Ezra (5) and I were kayaking on Lake Cochituate near their house.  We stopped to view the progress on a bike trail being built along the shore.  A woman walking her dog at a distance saw 3 of us in life jackets and tie-died sun hats and yelled, “Where’s your grown up?” It’s such fun being mistaken for a 12-yr-old!  Just a few weeks ago, after sledding with Elijah (5) at North Acton Recreation Area (NARA Park) he declared, “NARA Park isn’t NARROW, it’s WIDE!”

My volunteering at the New England Quilt Museum once a week brings me questions by e-mail from all over.  Recently a woman in NYC mistook an antique quilt top for a new one and requested advice on stain removal.  After several e-mail replies patiently explaining why you don’t put antique quilts in washers with stain catchers, she thanked me with a generous donation to the museum.

Bob’s sister, Lee, has needed our help to navigate multiple medical specialists in the past year about the results of aging.  I’m glad to have trained as a nurse 50 years ago though I never imagined at the time that my understanding of our complex health care system would become necessary in our own family.  Fortunately, she’s still able to live independently and is using Lyft at her daughter’s expense since she stopped driving last spring.

I’ve enjoyed work on several unique quilts this year which you can see here.  Bob and I kayaked on the lakes near Ben’s house again all summer and some early snow storms got me downhill skiing already both alone and with Ezra on early release afternoons from kindergarten.

In the spring we celebrated our 50^th wedding anniversary with a long weekend in NYC where we saw several shows, went sightseeing, picnicked in Central Park, and visited young cousins in Brooklyn.

Our vacation at Timberlock this summer included all the kids and introduced them to hiking, kayaking, sailing, sand castles, etc.  They can’t wait to do it again. I visited my family in Rochester in October where I saw my cousins, reconnected with some high school classmates, and took foliage photos while hiking in county parks.

We’re discouraged by the political situation and praying the next election will be an improvement.  Our town is planning events to celebrate 100 years since American women got the vote. It reminds me of my immigrant Bubi who came alone from Czarist Russia as an orphaned teenager. She told me that she entered the Port of Boston on November 2, 1904 which she knew was the week before Theodore Roosevelt was first elected to his own term as president. She was proud to be in a place where leaders are freely elected. When asked for her birth date by immigration officials, not knowing her exact birthday on the secular calendar, she chose Bastille Day.

Bob says: Where has 2019 gone? The year continued to feature grandchildren, animé, volunteer computer support, simulation… and walking. Since retiring, I’ve walked three miles almost every weekday with a friend and his friendly dog. That hasn’t made me a dog person, exactly, but that particular dog certainly has me wrapped around her paw.

After continual growth in projects for three years, my animé group (Orphan Fansubs) cut back this year. Many of the staff were snatched away by that dread event called Real Life, particularly the translators. Still, the team finished a number of interesting projects, ranging from the children’s classic Manxmouse to the epic, 7+ hour historical drama Sangokushi.

I continued to volunteer as a computer support person for Carlisle's Council on Aging, with a focus on teaching and consulting, repairing broken systems, and helping to recycle older electronics. If anything, the pace has become more hectic, as seniors wake up to the urgency of upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10. (If you haven’t upgraded yet, you have three weeks left.) I’ve now repaired or refurbished more than 100 computers, to the benefit of seniors, refugees, schools, and non-profits.

The Quilt Museum had a relatively quiet year, focused on cutting over to a new internet service provider and web presence. There are still some issues to iron out.

The simulation work is now in the hands of a group of Internet enthusiasts. I plan to visit the West Coast in 2020 to see my California-dream’ friends and to spend some quality time in the archives of the Computer History Museum. I also want to go back to Australia, to see my friends Down Under before the place burns up.

Jonathan says: We've been very busy in 2019. Larissa is now heading the sapphire team at BorisFX, which got her name mentioned (in the last minute of this video) for the technical Emmy awards this year. Jonathan's work at Funkitron has involved launching four different titles in 3 months in collaboration with Skillz Inc.  It's fun getting back to the breakneck pace of rapid game development that Funkitron started with in its early years.

Elijah is 4 now, and still adjusting to preschool. He loves letters, numbers, big words, and anything associated with PBS. He hopes this winter has more snow in it than last year.

We had a scare with the horses this year, when Skandalous came down with an acute bout of laminitis, but with the help of a specialist farrier, a special diet, a bunch of weight loss, and a lot of pain medicine, we've gotten him around the corner and he's walking comfortably again. We're hoping to get him back to barefoot next year once the ice melts, assuming his conformation remains in a healthy position.