1995

Merry Christmas and here we go again...

   Well, it's Wednesday night the 28th of December and it just seems about the right time to start my annual Christmas letter. Once again, I've got the calendar by my side to make sure that my good friends don't miss any exciting tidbits of the Willis' 1995. Before I get started though, I would like you to know that Rocky is still taking his heartworm medicine every month, even if I don't mention it in every paragraph.

   January 95 was a lot like January of 94. Not much happened except that Emily had a birthday party. Emily turned seven this year and I really hope she enjoyed the party since it will be her last. Jane and I invited a dozen six and seven year olds to our home on a cold winter day to celebrate the joy of Emily reaching that milestone age of seven. A few games, some cake and ice cream, give em a party bag and send them home. Sounds easy enough. Not one parent stayed to help. Not one! They all gave us that rhetorical "I'd be glad to stay and give you a hand" statement as they backed out the front door with a silly grin on their face, not giving us the chance to accept the offer. They knew what was about to happen. Since it's Christmas time I won't go into all the details but just think about this: A few good kids, a bully, a future sorority queen, a 135 pound dog, a whimpy little kid that is scared of dogs, a 25 pound pinata, and a big stick to hit the pinata. Add to this the fact that four of the above items brought a sleeping bag and ended up staying for 26 hours. You paint the picture. The only good thing to come from that party was the fact that I got rid of about 20 pounds of old Halloween candy in that pinata. Never again! At least not for another month. Let's move on to February.

  Nothing exciting happened in February, so let's head to March. Besides, I did get a little carried away about January.

   Most of March was good. Sarabeth turned two. It was a small family ceremony, closed to the public. Jane left me alone with the kids while she spent a week in Chicago on business. I think I did a pretty good job, since they're both still alive and everything, but I definitely learned to appreciate all the things she does around here. I did OK during the middle part of the day, like when they were at school and I was at work, but the beginning and the end were a little tricky. I'm really not too good at getting them out of, or into, bed. I'm also not too good at fixing them anything they will eat for dinner. It's amazing how long kids can survive on Fruit Loops.

  Wow, April looks exciting! There is stuff all over this calendar. 4 soccer practices, 2 conferences, 3 birthday parties, a bunch of Brownie meetings and about 6 or 7 church meetings. Looks can be deceiving.

   May in Indianapolis is always a good time. We got all the same stuff that we had in April, plus a weekend campout with a bunch of people from church. Add to that a Saturday in the suites at the track and you get a great month. I had some friends from Louisville come up that Saturday in the suites. We had a great time soaking in the sights and sounds and free food and beer as we rubbed elbows with the rich and famous. Actually most of the elbows we rubbed belonged to people like us who knew someone who knew someone that was rich and not famous and got us tickets. We had a good time, and drank a bit, as evidenced by the fact that we would actually rub the elbows of people we barely knew.

  June was full of soccer. This was Emily's first year. She seemed to enjoy it and did pretty good. I did my best not to become a "Little League Parent". I tried really hard not yell at the official about the way the other team's 6- & 7-year-old steroid taking semi-pro cheaters were always tripping our little ladies as we were about to score. I really tried. Honest. I must have done OK since they let Emily play in the fall league, and they let me watch. We took a little vacation in June to northern Ohio for a few days. I played in a work association golf outing and won a trophy. It was for second place, and they did use some sort of strange handicapping system, but I did win it! I don't care what you think, I'm still excited about it and I write this letter as much for my benefit as yours.

   July was super. Probably the highlight of the year. My old college roommate and his family stopped by for a couple of days on their way east from Texas. We had a great time talking about the good old days. It seemed every sentence started with "Do you remember...". It was a lot of fun, but sorry Peter, not the year's highlight. The highlight was a week later when we went to visit that famous cousin of mine in Idaho for a few days. He invited a bunch of us Willis' to his place for a family reunion. It was a great time. I got to know a bunch of cousins that I hadn't seen for years. Really good people that I hope to stay in touch with. The entire trip was like a visit to Disneyland and Fantasy Island all in one. If you want more details, I guess you'll have to call me. (Go ahead, be wild. 317-299-6764) Maybe I should set up a 900 number!

   August came quickly for Emily. She started 2nd grade at a new, year-round school, which began on the 3rd. She did have some really neat photos for show-and-tell and had no trouble at all writing that "What I did on my summer vacation" essay. She's doing well and seems to like it. Well of course she is Wayne, what else you gonna say.

  Now September was going to be really neat. Bruce invited Jane and I to Paris for the opening of the new "Planet Hollywood". If you remember, there were a lot of bombs going off around the city at that time, and someone decided that a bunch of famous American multimillionaires' along with Wayne & Jane, would be too inviting for the bad guys to pass up. The trip was canceled. The only good thing is now I have the distinct honor of being the only kid on my block who can say his weekend plans were ruined by terrorists.

   October. I turned 40.1 hated it. Every second of it. I'm getting old. People will start expecting me to act like a grownup now. Let's not talk about it any longer.

   November was the same as last year. Take out Thanksgiving, which is a great holiday, and there just aint much left.

  December makes up for it though. Three big things happened in December. The first was that Jane and I went to NY for the world premiere of Bruce's newest movie, 12 Monkeys. We spent the weekend as his guest, and enjoyed every minute. We were part of some big time, Hollywood type exciting lifestyle for a few short hours. Something I wish you all could experience. 24 hours later we were back in Indy with one glass slipper, but it was nice while it lasted. By the way, it's a really good movie, the type that people on my Christmas card list will appreciate.

  Christmas was the next big thing to happen in December. Everything was perfect. It felt really good this year. The girls were happy. Jane was happy. Even Rocky was happy. It was more than just gifts this year.

  The third big thing to happen in December is this letter. After reviewing the whole year, it kind of changed my attitude about what happened in October. I have a good life, a great family, and friends who will probably read this whole silly letter. Things are good.

Merry Christmas,