Christmas Letter 2021

 

“This love is difficult,

but it’s real.”

--Taylor Swift

                                                                                                    Christmastime, 2021          

Dear family and friends,

 

As I write this letter, perhaps more than ever before, I simply cannot believe that 2021 is coming to an end. Those lyrics come from the song “Love Story,” which was released way back in 2008, but in April of this past year, “Love Story (Taylor’s Version),” was released. Those lyrics not only appropriately represent 2021 for us, they seem to sum up our family’s entire difficult journey overall. In fact, Chrisy and I got our first tattoos together over Thanksgiving break this year, and we made those lyrics part of the tattoo.

 

After last year’s Christmas letter went out, Chrisy, Zoey, Kasey, and I ended up getting the Coronavirus. Wes had to temporarily move out so as to not catch it. Max had to cancel his Christmas trip home. We had to cancel a trip to Sedona. We spent our first Christmas in our new home laying around and recovering. Fortunately, nobody got hospitalized and it didn’t affect any of us too much. We were able to reschedule our trip to Sedona to Thanksgiving break of this year, and that’s when Chrisy and I decided to get our tattoos!

 

2021 seems like a total blur to me. At the beginning of the year, our church, TerraNova, was still meeting outside, and I was pushing chairs down the street each week so that our junior high ministry (JHM), which I still lead, could gather in a responsible manner. Our JHM winter camp was cancelled and the whole world seemed broken.

 

Speaking of broken, Chrisy had to have a major surgery to repair her messed up back! At the end of February, Chrisy and I flew to Boston to visit Max. We had an incredible trip, but while there, Chrisy’s back started causing her debilitating pain! She was out for the count. We flew back on March 2^nd, and when she saw her multiple sclerosis doctor, he took one look at her back images and said, “I don’t know how you’re walking. You need to see a surgeon ASAP.” On May 20, she had the surgery, which lasted over 8 hours. By all accounts, the surgery has been a major success, but it has been a long, slow, and painful road to recovery.

 

Speaking of Max, he graduated from the Physician Assistant program at Boston University, and he was just hired at his dream job, working as a P.A. in the emergency department at Boston Medical Center. Wes is working full time now in a good job and he’s also finishing up the last few units of his master’s degree at Talbot School of Theology. Zoey has carried a full load of classes at Irvine Valley College this year, and has done well there. She has worked a lot as a nanny and in childcare this year. Kasey is now a senior in high school and starting the process of applying for college. She continues to excel in both academics and running. The girls’ dogs, Harley and Mocha, have been joyful additions to our family.

 

As alluded to at the beginning of this letter, with the song lyrics, family dynamics have had their ups and downs this year. Honestly, that’s putting it mildly. Those Taylor Swift lyrics remind me a lot of Ephesians 4:2, which tells us to always be bearing with one another in love. That’s my prayer for not only my family, but everyone in these seemingly divisive times.

 

With love,

Doah & Chrisy