2022

The best part of writing this letter is the little bit of research I do a couple of days before I type this first sentence. I look through our old calendar, scroll through Facebook posts and all the photos on our cameras. I see all the fun things we did this year, and the fun people we did them with and I realize how lucky Jane and I are! The places are beautiful, the events are exciting, but the people we share them with make it all special!

January

Ok folks, move along. Nothing to see here.

February

We took our first real “retirement” vacation this month. No plane tickets or rental cars. We had plans, but they were flexible. We left on a Thursday morning and headed south, driving to St. Petersburg, FL for the Indycar season opening race and adventures beyond! The Coopers decided to rent a suite at the track and invited us and the Beckers to join them, along with a bunch of their other friends for a weekend of racing. We rented a place on the beach and spent Saturday and Sunday at the track. The racing was fun and the views from the suite were fantastic! Race cars on the track, planes in and out of the airport and yachts in the water all within a few hundred yards of the suite, all with the city skyline in the background. The day after the race, we all drove down to the Coopers place near Punta Gorda for a few days. We played some golf, did the Babcock Ranch Eco Tour, ate very well and generally relaxed. The nature tour turned out to be a big hit. As you can see from the photos, we got up close and personal with nature that day! After we wore out our welcome there, we left Scott & Liz to try our luck with the Arthurs in Sarasota. We made it to Jenny & Alan’s house, and the party started when Barb showed up. And that’s not uncommon. Our first excursion was a tasting at Siesta Key Rum. A fun place with a nice product. Then a day of exploring junk shops, thrift shops and a salvage yard. Bits and parts of my brain recall a visit to The Bahi Hut, Florida’s oldest Tiki Bar, or so they claim. I don’t really know if they are as famous as they say, but they make one fine Mai Tai. Actually, they made more than one that afternoon! We had dinner at Denny’s that evening. It seemed fitting. Our visit included a day at the botanical gardens and another at the Florida Strawberry Festival. The visit concluded with Jane & Barb onstage with the band at some outdoor bar/restaurant. It was time to leave. Even Barb was tired. So, we jumped into the car, and headed north. Kind of. We decided that we might as well stop by Jacksonville on the way home and see Jerry and Lisa. A relaxing couple of days that included floating in the pool, another round of golf, a stroll along the beach and just generally catching up with great friends. We managed to drag Jerry into a Goodwill one day, where I snagged this nice Odyssey putter for $3. Jane doesn’t understand why I mention this, let alone include a photo. But a lot of my friends are smiling right now. Of course, those that have seen me putt think I paid too much!

We continued our journey home. Vacations can’t last forever…or can they? Why not swing up through North Carolina and meet up with a few old work friends? It’s not that far out of the way. Besides, it gets us out of driving through Atlanta. So, we head to High Point for dinner with my buddy John and some of the great people he has introduced me to since we met back in the 80s. We had a good meal and retold a bunch of old stories. I certainly enjoy retirement, but I sure miss dealing with this group of friends. The next day, Nick gave us a tour of Richard Childress Racing, where he is in charge of all their graphics. It is a neat place, and it felt good to be surrounded again by all of the sounds and smells of a graphics shop. I miss it just enough. But not too much. And then we went home. Straight home this time.

March

Well, that was weird! I had a heart attack. During my Thursday night tennis clinic, I started feeling kind of odd. In my chest. It didn’t hurt, just felt different. I sat for a couple of minutes, felt better and started playing again. A few minutes later I am back on the sideline sitting again. My Thursday night group happens to include a cardiologist, an internist, and a psychiatrist. A great place to have a heart attack! The three of them were soon huddled around me, discussing how they were going to split the bill. After the business matters were settled, two of them were taking my pulse, and Phil was asking me if I had any unresolved issues with my mother. An ambulance was called, which was the club’s policy, but I was feeling fine at that point. I was ready to go back and play some more tennis. The EMTs ran an EKG which came out perfect. They said they didn’t have to take me to the hospital, which sounded fine with me. But Rolf the cardiologist said I needed to go. He drove me home and Jane took me to the hospital where they took some blood and told me to sit and wait. Three hours later they came back and told me that, yes, I had experienced a heart attack. They admitted me, and the next morning took me down for some tests. I came back up to the room later with a hole in my arm and two stents in my chest. It seems I had a couple of pretty severe blockages in a couple of pretty important places. I was back home Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours later. I’m fine now. Back to tennis 3 to 4 times a week like nothing ever happened. But let me add this public service announcement. Something did happen. When you get that odd feeling in your chest, or any other possible heart symptoms, get it checked out. If this had happened to me at home, I would have sat down on the couch until it felt better. Then I would have forgotten about it. And two weeks later I might have woken up dead. And that would have put a damper on the rest of this Christmas letter.

On a more fun subject, Jane spent a week with Adam, Emily & Evan on the beach in Florida. Jane had a chance to babysit her grandson on a warm beach and Adam & Em had a chance to relax and recharge their batteries too. And they are going to need fully charged batteries.  Emily let us know she was pregnant. Evan’s sister will be arriving in a few short pages, which gives you a reason to keep reading.

April

We had a chance to meet up with some family in Cincinnati for a culture weekend. Bob & Jean invited us to see “A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum” at one of the local theatres. We ate great Italian food with a fantastic view of the city below. And dinner was even more enjoyable because the place was full of prom couples. The kids looked just like kids trying to look like grownups. It reminded me that just a mere 50 years ago I was going to the prom and trying to do the same thing. And I must tell you, I don’t think kids today have what it takes to pull off a baby blue, crushed velvet tux with 6” wide lapels and bell bottom pants the way I could back in the day! Just saying. And the play was excellent too! Here is a nice photo of a few of us the day before. Also this month we took Evan to the Children’s Museum in Indy. That’s not an odd occurrence, or terribly exciting, but it does give me the opportunity to post this photo of me and my grandson. It was just by chance we were wearing the exact same clothes. But not by chance that we both exude style.

May

As I have said before, May is always a great time in Indy. I spent some time working the Mecum sale at the fairgrounds for Jerry & Monica. I had the best job ever! My job was to give away free samples of Bardstown Bourbon. I stood inside a nice little trailer and gave away samples of bourbon. And not just any bourbon, but one of my favorites! I discussed bourbon with experts and taught novice drinkers how to enjoy a sip. And all the time I am watching beautiful classic cars roll by on their way to auction. I am really hoping they need someone for the same position this year! We also had a nice evening of dinner and the symphony with Mark & Karen Becker. And thank you Scott & Liz for a fun day at the track.  We ended the month at an art glass auction. One huge collection of good stuff. It was our first live auction, you know, where you can stare directly at the people bidding against you. It was fun! Expensive, but fun. Auctions are not good places for competitive people to congregate. We added to our collection because that’s what makes it a collection. We also started the renovation work on our family room this month.

June

This was a busy month. I started in Myrtle Beach with Dave & Richard Emery and 24 other guys. It was time for our annual golf outing. It was great fun. I played just well enough to want to come back again. I did manage to get closest to the pin on one hole. I called Jane and mentioned I won $10. She said, “Playing golf?” …It kinda hurt my feelings. The day after I got back from that trip we jumped into the car and drove to Michigan. It was time for this year’s Janitor Jamboree! Doug & Diane were hosting us at their place, that sits in the woods on the Baldwin River. Mike & Mercedes and Bob & Sue joined us. We missed you Jerry & Lisa, but we did talk about you. Activities included golfing, shooting, shopping, fishing, bourbon sipping, fire pit sitting, cigar smoking, crafting, airplane watching, Michael running, great eating, a little more bourbon sipping, just talking and probably a few other things. It was a great time. We love these people. We came home, rested for a week, and then left for the beach in Gulf Shores for vacation with our girls and everyone attached to them. We had a place right on the beach so we would head there first, come back up for lunch and then decide if we were going to the pool, or taking a nap first. It seemed like Evan always got his way, the big baby! The evenings were spent searching for good places for dinner. We finally got some tips from a GS regular and ate well the rest of the trip. Sarabeth’s boyfriend Zach, who you met in last year’s letter, was with us and we had the opportunity to play golf a couple of times. On our second outing, he officially asked my permission to marry Sarabeth. I officially said it was ok with me and that it made me very happy! And then on 18, I holed out from 75 yards over the water for birdie! We will both remember that round forever. I mean, how often do you hit a shot like that? We’ve been gone almost all month. That family room should be wrapping up soon.

July

Not much happening this month. The Coopers & Beckers joined us in Mooresville, the small town near our lake place, so we could enjoy their summer festival. It was fun and all that, but only letter worthy because I really wanted to share this cool photo that Liz took. It just screams 70’s album cover. That family room should be wrapping up soon.

August

The biggest chunk of this month was taken up with the Indiana State Fair! Jane & I both worked full time this year for the Urick’s. And Sarabeth was bartending on the weekends. We had the best job at the fair and we worked with fun people. We checked IDs in the Taproom, where we served 16 different craft beers, a few cocktails, and some wine. It was air-conditioned, family friendly and usually had pretty good live music. And if you wanted a beer, you had to go through one of us. We met all kinds of different people from all over the place. Nearly every state and 34 different countries. (We actually kept a list) And 99.9% of those people were happy and friendly and nice to us. And we probably dealt with a couple of thousand a day. It makes me feel a little better about society as a whole. Of course, we mostly talked about beer. Not terribly controversial, unless you just HAD to have a Miller Lite, which we didn’t serve. And things printed on T-shirts often highlighted topics to avoid. We just had to literally read the room. At the end of the month, we took advantage of the Indianapolis Fringe Festival. It was one of those things we had talked about doing for years and finally got it done. We saw a number of shows, some at venues I didn’t even know existed. There was one that I don’t think Jane & I were cool enough to understand, but overall, the shows were entertaining, well done and inexpensive. We plan on doing it again next year and bringing some friends. We also spent a lot of evenings in the backyard sitting around the fire pit. It’s amazing how long I can sit with a bourbon in one hand and a cigar in the other and just stare at that fire!      No really, that family room should be wrapping up any day now.

September

The family room really is almost finished. Just need to put up some shelves and find some art for over the couch. What a perfect reason to go to the Art Fair in Bloomington! And as long as we are there, what a perfect reason to go to Nick’s with Bob & Sue. We found some art, but not the art, so that part of the trip was not a complete success. But the Bob & Sue & Nick’s part was perfect! A day later we met my siblings in Salem for the King family reunion. It was the first time in a number of years that all 5 of us made it there. Eventually Bob and I decided it would be easier for everyone if we just answered to whichever name whichever relative addressed us by. We know enough about each other’s lives that we could pull it off without much trouble. Though, some may have been perplexed when we left with the wrong wife. At the end of that week, we all met again out at our lake place. We didn’t do anything exciting, but we don’t really need to when we get together. We ate well and then just sat around and talked. Old stories and a few new ones. Kind of like Andy sitting on the porch in Mayberry, except in color. The one exciting thing that did happen that weekend was that Zach proposed to Sarabeth! In Vegas in front of the fountains at the Bellagio. BTW, she said yes. A few days later, Jane went to the Girl Scouts Cocktails & Camp night. You may remember it from last year. Thin Mints, margaritas, and guns. I’m not sure exactly what goes on there, but she always comes home happy, with a poorly constructed lanyard around her neck. Well, anything for the Girl Scouts. The next weekend we headed to Greensburg for Jane’s 50th high school reunion. It started Friday night with a casual get-together at the town festival. The official event was the next evening when everyone gathered at the hotel. Nice and simple. Good food, a bar and other than the group photo, no planned activities. Just plenty of time for people to wander from table to table and reintroduce themselves to their friends from high school. Luckily, everyone was wearing name tags. Jane really seemed to enjoy the evening and I think she has added a few names to the Christmas letter list. And I enjoyed the evening realizing that I got the prettiest and smartest girl from the class of 72! The shelves are up in the family room, but we still need that nice piece of art.

October

We started the month with a trip to Warsaw, IN. Jane was going up for an all-day watercolor class. This was her third trip up for one of these things and I thought I would join her and make an outing of it. We left early Friday morning and made stops along the way. One of our stops was at the Honeywell Center in Wabash. They were having an art exhibit so we thought we would take a look. The show was the work of one artist, the former Dean of the Herron School of Art in Indy. And we loved her work. We spent a couple of hours there taking photos and measurements of all the pieces that might work for us. We needed to go home and do some figuring. That evening we ate at this cute little restaurant on the town square. One of those places where the chef comes to the table to make sure everything was just right. It was. After dinner we walked around the corner to a place called the Anthology Whiskey Room. I walked into heaven. This place was wood paneling, tufted leather couches and over 1450 bottles of whiskey on the shelves. Just whiskey. From Scotch to Canadian to Bourbon and everything in between. From Pappy to JTS Brown. It was just the perfect shade of dark combined with the perfect volume of soft jazz. This place might hold 20 people. When we came in there were only 6 other people there. We sat quietly for a while, and I ordered a glass of EH Taylor. We sat and I sipped. After the drink was finished, I looked around, soaked it all in one more time, and we left. I plan on going back. The next day, Jane went to paint and I went to play golf. Played a great course called Stonehenge and shot my best round of the year. I picked up Jane, marveled at how amazing her painting was and drove on back to Indy. A perfect little trip. The next weekend was the IU Homecoming game. Hey, it had been 50 years since they met and Barb thought the girls needed to celebrate. It started with a Friday afternoon in Nashville, IN. Did the typical Nashville stuff. Then we moved over to Bloomington and did the typical Bloomington stuff. Walked all over campus and around Kirkwood and talked about what used to here and what used to there and the weird fact that none of us ever had a class in that building. What is that building anyway! We eventual headed to our little house on the lake. The next day was the game. We played Michigan. Whose idea was that? Since Barb is a former member of the Marching Hundred, we stayed around for the post game concert. Better than the game. Anyway, it was fun, though it does seem like we spent more time in the car trying to park and unpark than we spent in the stadium. We spent the evening sitting around the fire pit telling stories. It was great. We kicked them out kind of early the next day. Jane and I had to get to an Excel Graphics reunion in Brownsburg that afternoon. I had a chance to spend time with a great bunch of friends. A lot happened in my 26 years there. Most of it good. I wouldn’t trade that time or those people for anything in the world. On the 12th, Emily gave birth to our granddaughter, Adelyn Ann Wallace. And we call her Addie. She is perfect! She is the cutest little girl ever. Though I do know of one that comes in a close second, please don’t try and dispute that fact. And just because I can, here is a really great photo of Jane and her girls. Marky & Donn came to spend a lacrosse weekend with us. Erik, Lindsay & the girls were in town for a tournament. And we weren’t going to miss the chance to see our grandnieces run around a field and whack other little girls with sticks! I am not all that familiar with lacrosse and was interested in learning about the game. And I did, kind of. It was sheer poetry in motion, albeit that weird kind of poetry where none of the words rhyme. Actually, it was much like the soccer I used to watch my daughters play, except the parents just yelled different things at their kids. The girls played great, we had a chance for some visiting between games and we finished it all up with a bunch of flaming cheese at a great Greek restaurant. Opa! We decided on a painting! We picked it up at the artist’s studio here in town. We spent an hour with her as we toured the house and studio and learned more about her and her work. It made the art that much more special. But best of all, the family room renovation was complete. When we started back in May, I had no idea it would take 3 ½ pages of the Christmas letter to finish.

November

Jane started the month with a couple of craft shows. The first was relatively local and the next weekend was in Greensburg. She did well at both, making some money selling her jewelry and paintings, but really enjoyed the visit back home. She had a chance to see some old friends, some family, and old friends that are family. Then we had a really busy week! It started with a family visit to the art museum for Winterlights. It’s neat to see how excited Evan was to see all the lights and listen to the music. And it was neat to see how excited Jane was to see how excited Evan was. Addie did not seem all that impressed. The next day was Thanksgiving. Emily & Adam and Sarabeth & Zach had about 5 different family gatherings between them to attend that day, so we let them off the hook here at our place. Instead, we accepted a very generous invitation to join Jerry and Monica at their family Thanksgiving. As expected, the meal was fantastic and the company superb! We had a wonderful time with a bunch of really nice people. We are thankful to have friends like the Uricks. And the next evening, we were having dinner in Westfield with the Lyles and the Arthurs. Randye & Jim were in from St. Louis. It had been a while since we had seen them, so we had some catching up to do. We eventually left the restaurant and made our way over to a neat little distillery a couple of blocks away, where we continued our deep conversations & silly stories. I did spend a little time that evening trying to teach Randye how to enjoy a sip of bourbon. I’m not sure she is interested in a second lesson. The week ended with a birthday party for Evan. This was his second, and he seemed to grasp the concept of gifts better than the previous year. I won the prize for the heaviest gift. I made him a set of wooden blocks that probably weigh-in at about 20 pounds. They were fun to build and make a nice and colorful photo to finish off this month.

December

Tis’ the Season! We started the month in Carmel. Jason & Alex gave us tickets to this really cool cabaret called Feinstein’s. We had drinks and desserts while listening to Josh Kaufman sing with his jazz band. Definitely cool and sophisticated. But then, we were in Carmel, IN. And for my California cousins, that’s Carmel like the sticky chewy candy. Thanks Jason, you should have kept those for yourself! I was given an offer that was too good to refuse, so we headed back down around Greensburg a few days later. Thank you, Roger & Diane, for a fun evening. We enjoyed the company, the pizza and the SUV full of goodies I hauled back home. I plan on taking advantage of you in the future! And while I am thanking people for gifts, thanks Mark & Karen for the concert in Bloomington. After a little Nashville shopping and a great comfort food meal at Hobnob Corner, we enjoyed Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s Christmas show with the Coopers. It was a great show at a venue I highly recommend. The next week those same Coopers and Beckers met us downtown for dinner and a show. We were going to the ISO Yuletide Celebration. This event, which is different every year, is performed 21 times each Christmas season, for the last 36 years. Jane & I had never been. I didn’t really think I would like it. I was wrong. It was fantastic! I think it may become an annual event for us. I can’t wait to take Evan and Addie and our future grandkids to this show. Christmas was on the 25th this year. It’s different being old. The kids are at their house with their family starting their own Christmas traditions. That’s the way it should be. And it’s fine with us. We enjoyed sleeping in. Later that day, we had a nice family gathering. Very relaxed and easy. A nice dinner, a few gifts and later, a chance for Jane and I to sit around and think about just how good we got it. We got it good.

We spent New Year’s Eve at the Becker’s nice new home. Of course, the Coopers were there too. We sat around a table playing games and eating snacks until about 11:50. Then we turned on the TV, watched the ball drop and kissed our respective spouses. We said goodbye for 20 minutes and then drove home.

 Normally, that’s the end of the letter. But this year, we postponed our big Willis Christmas until January so Bob & Jean & Dawn could get back from their big overseas vacation. Plus, everyone else’s schedule was a lot easier to work around. Now I don’t have a problem sending out a Christmas letter in February or March, but that letter certainly can’t start and end with Christmas. It wouldn’t be right.

The big Willis Christmas was here in Indianapolis this year. They started arriving Friday afternoon. We had people here, out at the lake and in a hotel. This may have been a record year for us. We were missing a few but we did get 28 of us all together. It was a joyously chaotic occasion! It was loud. Kids were laughing, screaming, and crying. Adults were doing some of the same. We ate very well and then traded gifts. The next morning, we all met for a quiet brunch. And then, much like locusts, they were gone, the only thing left to tell the tale was all the stuff they left at my house that I need to ship back to them. Love my family.

So that’s it. It was a good year. Hope yours was just as much fun. Merry Christmas and have a great 2023!

Wayne & Jane

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