2023
Admit it. You really didn’t expect to get a Christmas letter today, did you? But now that it’s here, you might as well read it. Guaranteed more fun than the gas bill or that junk mail about joining AARP!
January
We started the year by ending the last one. New Years Eve at the Beckers and the Willis Christmas at our house. But that was all in last year’s letter. The rest of the month included working a bit at the Home Show for the Uricks, where I added “barista” to my résumé, and a night at a hockey game with a bunch of my tennis friends. And there was a dentist appointment, and we watched the grandkids a couple of times. A basic January in Indianapolis. I wish there were more to write about. But alas, no.
February
Ok, nothing fun or newsworthy happened this month, so I’ll just use this space to show off the grandkids. At the time of this writing, Evan is three and Addie is one. Jane & I are…well, that’s not important.
March
This was a big travel and have fun with friends month. We started by taking a couple of days and driving to St. Petersburg, FL for the first Indycar race of the season. We met the Coopers and Beckers Thursday night at the condo on the beach. We spent the weekend at the track enjoying all sorts of practice sessions and qualifying and races. One of the highlights was catching up with my buddy Chris from Indy. We never found time to connect at home, so it was great to see him down here. He was working for one of the teams, so we didn’t get too much time together, but it was Christmas letter worthy! The entire weekend was full of fast cars, friends, and lots of great food. Monday, we moved the party from the beach to the Cooper’s place at Babcock Ranch, outside of Ft. Myers. The race was exciting. This was relaxing. We played some golf and a bit of tennis. We floated around the pool and went to a concert. And we napped on the lanai. And of course, anytime you can use the word lanai in a sentence you are describing a relaxing time. One of the highlights of the southern leg of our journey was a chance to meet up with Tom & Jane Hoover. The Janes worked together at the hospital and Tom eventually ended up working with me at Excel Graphics. Life took over and we hadn’t seen each other for about 16 years or so. They had just recently retired to the area, so we met for dinner. After 10 minutes, it sure didn’t seem like 16 years. Friendship doesn’t have an expiration date. We had a great evening together. But soon it was time continue our journey.
Mark and Karen headed back to the great white north. Scott and Liz locked their door and hid from visitors while Jane and I went north all the way to Sarasota. We were about to spend some time with Jane’s college friend Jenny and her husband Alan. But guess who opens the front door? You’ll never guess, so I’ll tell you. Surprise, it was Jane’s college friend Randye from St. Louis! And before we left for the theatre that evening, there was a knock at the door. IT WAS BARB!, Jane’s college roommate! Not really a surprise since she lives in Sarasota and we all knew she was going to the show with us, but just thought I’d try to make it exciting for you, the reader. We saw a fun show then came back to the house, where I performed a dramatic reading of last year’s Christmas letter. The next day was girls’ day. Jill, another one of the college girls, who lives outside of Sarasota, came to the house. They sat at the table on the lanai and had, obviously, a relaxing day. I would be sure they talked about everything that has happened over the last 50 years. Alan and I jumped in his car and drove away. We came back eventually. I’m guessing around dinner time. Sometime during the visit, we snuck in a meal at Walt’s for some great seafood. The next evening, we met up with my high school friends Bruce & Bryan and their wives Mary & Maggie for dinner at a neat little bar/restaurant. I know we are all grown up and mature adults and everything, but the evening still was very reminiscent of silly high school kids after a football game at Shakey’s Pizza Parlor. Except I didn’t have a curfew. And I could buy beer. We left the next day and drove to Jacksonville to see Jerry & Lisa. Just an overnight visit to mooch a free bed and a fantastic dinner. A nice simple evening of sitting around talking and sipping around the fire pit. “Friendship is so weird…you just pick a human you’ve met and you’re like ‘Yep, I like this one’ and you just do stuff with them.” I wish I could claim that quote. Now it was time to seriously start heading back to Indianapolis. But Jane wanted to visit The Biltmore Estate in Asheville. Fine with me. I didn’t plan on being impressed, but my plans changed. It is a very impressive place. Exceptionally large and every inch is cool. A level of wealth that is hard to comprehend. Well worth the time. We also had a chance to visit some of the local art galleries in Asheville and enjoy a couple of the restaurants. What a neat little city! But we really needed to get home. But first, a stop in Richmond, KY. There was someone there I needed to see. My old friend Roy Baxter. The last time I saw Roy was at my wedding. He graduated from college and then vanished. Some say CIA, others alien abduction. Whatever, a few years ago I decided to find him. With all of today’s modern technology and social media, I finally found him with the help of the Richmond White Pages. He still had a landline. Like most CIA operatives. We met Roy and his wife Nancy for dinner. It was great to see him after all these years. He has changed as much as the rest of us, which really isn’t all that much. And that’s good. He had an excellent cover story to explain where he was and what he was doing between 1976 and 2020. Something about working and raising a family. The usual. We sat and talked that night until they kicked us out. I’m glad I made the effort. I hope we get to do it again someday. The next morning, we headed home, by way of Bardstown and a number of distilleries. Arrived in Indy late that evening. The cat was still alive.
April
We had to rest in April. The only letter worthy event was taking Emily to see “Hamilton.” She loves that musical. Has every word memorized. It made her happy. Jane and I liked it. We had to ask for an interpretation every so often, but we liked it. Not quite the Broadway tunes I normally belt out while cruising down the interstate.
May
Indy is always fun in May, and this was a great one. It started with a chance to brag about one of my daughters. This was easy back when they were kids. You always had the Honor Roll and the winning soccer goal and Dean’s List and things like that. But as they get older, and life turns into the long haul of work and kids and such, bragging opportunities tend to diminish. So, the rest of our family cheered wildly as Sarabeth was selected Teacher of the Year at her school. I know she works hard at a tough job, and it was fantastic that she was honored for everything she does for her students. A week later we enjoyed a great Italian dinner with Jerry & Monica Urick, followed by an evening at the symphony. A very relaxing, fun time with a bit of culture to top it off. After that, it was time for a different kind of culture. My college roommate and his daughter came to town on their way to IU for our dorm’s 50-year reunion. While Pete and Debby were here, we decided they needed to visit the track to get a taste of the 500. It was Fast Friday, so they got to see a lot of action. They also managed to each get a special Scott Cooper guided tour of Gasoline Alley and Pit Lane. Pete ends up with a photo of the Borg Warner trophy (with a car in the background) and Debby meets Alex Palou, the 500 pole sitter and series champ. Thanks Scott! Jane & I met them in Bloomington the next day for the reunion. We had fun reminiscing about the good old days when we all met for the first time. Debby, who lived in the same dorm about 40 years after us, heard some stories for the first time. But of course, there were some she will never hear. I finished the month off at the track for the race. Mark Becker had an extra very good ticket. That ticket, combined with some Scott Cooper passes let us start the day on the track up until about an hour before the start. And the seats were perfect. First turn, in the shade with a fantastic view. I hadn’t been to the race for a few years. Now I remember why I liked it so much. I may have start going a little more often now!
June
I started the month with what is becoming an annual golf outing to Myrtle Beach. Pretty much the same as last year. Golf, golf, golf, golf, an Emery wins the trophy and we come home. When you put it on paper, it sounds pretty boring. But it really is fun. We actually don’t know which Emery is going to win until the very end! I think I’m going to see if they will let me use the ladies tees this year. On my first shot. A week or so later we had the chance to spend the evening with Kim Emery and her daughter Randi. They were in town so Randi could do some teaching and Kim could get out of town. She said she was tired of hearing Dave do the shot by shot analysis of his Mrytle Beach championship. I understand. We had a nice dinner and a relaxing experience. Sometime that month, Scott, Liz, Mark and I played in a charity golf outing. I think we were the only non-corporate sponsored super team of former professional golfers on the course that day. The Alzheimer's Association made a bunch of money that day and we had a lot of fun. We just missed 3rd place by about 15 strokes! We ended the month with the 2023 edition of Janitor Jamboree. Also known as “Custodial-2 MMXXIII Back to the Beginning”. Sue and Bob were hosting us this year and we were back in Bloomington where it all started. The activities were pretty much the same as every year. Great food, drink, a round of golf and a lot of story telling, most of which started with, “Do you remember…”. The golf was more than the typical challege. We played The Pfau Course at IU, recently selected as one of the toughest courses in the nation. It is long and narrow with lots of trees and sand. And the water hazards were all created by the tears of the golfers that played before you. When I told Jane my score, she was confused. She said I must have had a lot of strikes to get a score that high. This is all of us in the photo to the right; Jerry & Lisa, Mike & Mercedes, Jane & I, Sue & Bob and Diane & Doug. Jane and I weaseled our way into this group in 1975. That’s a long time ago. We love these people!
July
This was a relatively low key month. Kind of the calm before the storm. We had some of my family in town for a weekend. It seems that my nieces Avery & Ellis wanted to come to Indy to see me, and maybe play some lacrosse. Then their parents wanted to come. Then their grandparents. It kind of snowballed after that. A couple of aunts and an uncle and a few cousins later it was a party. The girls played some fine lacrosse that weekend, the best I’d seen in a long time. When we weren’t up at the fields we were sipping bourbon and smoking cigars around the firepit. Well, not Avery & Ellis. That would be silly. They’re in training! We probably did other stuff that was fun, but I don’t remember. But I do remember that it was a fun weekend. We finished July by jumping head first into the Indiana State Fair. We were working for the Uricks again this year. As I have said in letters past, it is the best job in the world. We check IDs in The Taproom. Talking to a few thousand people a day at the gateway to craft beer heaven. They are happy because it is air-conditioned, there is good music and great beer in their future. But it does get tricky sometimes. Every now and then we get a rough customer that we need to double-up on. We nearly had to call the authorities to handle this customer in the security photo at the right. It seems our wine selection wasn’t up to her standards. But even when it gets a bit stressful, Jane can always retreat to her happy place. The llama barn. Look at that smile on her face! Jane’s…the one on the left.
August
The state fair took us to the middle of the month. We worked everyday of the fair except for the last weekend. We needed that weekend to travel to Louisville for my 50th high school reunion. Jerry gives us a weekend off once every 50 years. I really enjoyed the reunion. It was great to see most of the friends that I have stayed in touch with throughout the years, some that I have just reconnected with on Facebook and a few that were total surprises. I was expecting a room full of old people, but I was pleasantly surprised. We looked pretty good! Though I must admit that my definition of old has been modified over the last few years. And it seems that the cute girls from Stuart High School’s class of 73 are still cute. Hey, cute don’t grow old! I have included this group photo of our class, though it is just there to give you an idea of how many showed up. Don’t hurt your eyes trying figure out which pixel is which person. Although that group of pixels to the left, is Jane and me with Dave & Kim Emery. One big plus of the evening was a connection I made with an old friend I hadn’t heard from in years. She was not on social media. Quite possibly another Roy Baxter, CIA situation. Our mutual friend had been in touch with her and now I am in touch with her. Welcome to the Christmas letter Jami! A week later we were on our way to Alaska. Oh, didn’t I tell you we were going to Alaska? Along with the Coopers and the Beckers, we were set to spend 4 days in Fairbanks and at Denali National Park. From there we head through Anchorage to Seward, where we board the ship for a 7 day cruise down the inner passage, stopping nearly everyday for different excursions to see whales and eagles and glaciers and such. We jump ship in Vancouver, sight-see a bit and then drive to Whidbey Island outside of Seattle. We sight-see a couple of days and then fly on home. What a grand vacation. Let’s get started!
September
Due to flight schedules, we started in Fairbanks a day before the official tour started so we spent the day wandering around the city. Cute little place with the Chena River running down the center. It’s the second largest city in the state and we covered most of it in about a half hour. And that is with Jane in a walking boot and Scott using a cane. I included a photo of our group in last year’s Christmas letter because I thought it looked like an album cover. This photo looks like the same group on their farewell tour! On our first day with the tour we took a riverboat ride where we visited a re-created indiginous village, saw a dog sled training facility and watched a plane take off and land on the river. It was more fun than I had anticipated. This was going to be a good trip. Jane and Mark celebrated with a drink at dinner that evening. The next morning we boarded the train to Denali. That was amazing! Started with a nice big breakfast and then we sat in the observation car and observed Alaska. What a beautiful way to get from one place to another. Denali is magnificent. And I hear that there is a mountain there! Unfortunately, we were part of the 75% of people who visit the park and never see the peak because of clouds and general atmospheric conditions. We spent the remainder of the day visiting the park’s dog kennel. During the winter, dog sleds are the only means of transportation in the park. They did a demo for us. The amazing thing is how much those dogs love to run! Six dogs did the demo and the rest of them barked the whole time because they wanted to play too! That evening we had a nice home style dinner with entertainment at our lodge. Really good food and a cute little after dinner show. Once again, I was prepared for something extremely mediocre. (Can something be extremely mediocre?) But they surpassed my expectations and we had a fun time. There is only one road into the park. It’s 85 miles long and unless you are on a special tour, you can only drive the first 16 miles. Our next day in the park we were on one of those special tours. Our guide was great and we saw animals up close and personal. We watched that bear on the right for probably 20 minutes. She said she never knows what to expect, but she certainly didn’t expect to put on show like she did that day!
The next day it was time to leave Denali and head to the ship. We stopped in Anchorage for lunch and then on to Seward. Some of the prettiest scenery of the trip so far was the last hundred miles north of Seward. Everywhere you looked was a glacier, some sort of water or a snow-covered mountain. We are getting even more excited about the cruise portion of the trip. About an hour before arrival, we were informed that our cruise had been cancelled.
As you can guess, that came as quite a shock. It seems the ship had mechanical issues the last night of the previous cruise and it could not be repaired in time for our trip. This was a Friday at about 5pm. They let us board the ship and use it as a free hotel, bar and restaurant, but we needed to be off the boat by 4pm Sunday. It was crazy. They tried their best but trying to make emergency travel arrangements for 2100 passengers was a big task that was delegated to waiters and any other staff that could use a phone and a computer. And the issue was exasperated by the fact the ship was stuck in Seward, Alaska. The only way out was a small airport 125 miles away. I called the airline directly and Jane & I were on a plane the next evening at 7:00. I wonder what ever happened to the Coopers and the Beckers? There was one good thing that happened on the ship. Around midnight or so, we had a chance to view the Northern Lights. That was one of the things on our list that we could check off. No whales, but we got the Aurora Borealis! And in the end, the cruise line took fairly good care of us. Refunded most of our money and gave us a voucher for a free cruise that you will read about in next year’s Christmas letter.
October
I started the month on the golf course with 3 of my 4 Finley nephews. I ran into Ben at the state fair. After checking his ID, we chatted awhile and decided we needed to get together for some golf. Ben, Ian and Matthew met me at The Fort early on Sunday morning. Nathan couldn’t make it this time. We played some pretty poor golf, but we certainly looked like pros! It was great to catch up with these men and I hope we can do this on a regular basis. A week later Jane spent a day in Warsaw, IN at a watercolor class. This was her 3rd time attending Terry’s workshop and each time, she returns with a beautiful piece of art. She really enjoys painting and is very talented. It is nice to have an artist in the family. And she inspires me! To build frames. A few days later, Addie had her first birthday. And we celebrated by going to Disney World! We met Emily and Adam and the grandkids in Orlando. Now let me tell you, experiencing Disney with the Wallace’s is like … Wow. I’ve sat here at the keyboard for 15 minutes and I can’t think of anything comparable. It’s part science and part art, all choreographed into a dance that displays the best in time management and fiscal responsibility. And all worked around an intricate nap and feeding schedule. Adam needs to write a “Disney For Dummies” book. We stayed at a resort in the park and were up and going very early. Well, early for Jane and me. When they dropped the rope, it landed on our toes! And when everyone else was sprinting to special rides and attractions, we walked. Because we had a plan. We had the app and knew how to use it. We got to ride every ride and see everything we wanted to see because Adam and Emily have somehow broken the Disney Code. It was a beautiful thing. I think my favorite part of the trip was the way Evan and Addie reacted to the characters. We had a number of encounters with Mickey and Minnie and the rest of the gang and each time, Evan’s eyes would get big, and he would get a silly little grin on his face. He knew he was in the presence of greatness! It was a wonderful trip and it was great to visit Disney with native speakers.
November
Evan turned 3 this month. He is starting to figure out this birthday thing and how special he is on that special day. But this month really belongs to Sarabeth and Zach. Because they were getting married the day after Thanksgiving. There was a full year to plan this, but it sure seemed like the last week or so was extra hectic. Along with just pulling together basic wedding stuff, Jane did all the flowers and had issues with the alterations on her dress until the last moment possible. She had her final fitting on Thanksgiving morning. Sarabeth may just now be finding out that her mom nearly wore one of Emily’s old prom dresses to her wedding! But it all worked out and Jane looked beautiful. The wedding was on the north side of Indy in a fancy “wedding barn”. It is a nice venue way out in the country, but this place was built for just one purpose. I can assure you that the only cow ever to step foot in that barn was wearing a bridesmaid dress. Everyone got there early in the morning, had a quick rehearsal and we put the final touches on the place. The fun part was the bucket brigade we ran to put together and place 400 small flower vases on the tables. Eventually the place was decorated, the DJ was there, the bar was stocked, and friends & family started arriving. It was wedding time. Finally, we could all breathe and enjoy the party. And everyone did enjoy it, especially Evan who thought this was just more of his birthday celebration. He was sure he was the center of attention. And that was fine, but he sure is going to be disappointed when he turns 4. Sometimes when I write these letters, I get stuck. I start thinking about how good my life is and how much I love those around me, and I run out of cute, sarcastic things to type. So, there is a lot of typing and deleting, typing and deleting. No more deleting. This was the happiest I have been in a long time. I am so happy to welcome Zach to our family. He loves my daughter, and I love the way he makes Sarabeth feel, and I hope everyone that was at the wedding felt a little bit of it too. Jane and I want to thank you all for being a part of a beautiful event. My only regret is that we didn’t have enough time to socialize with everyone. I’m just glad all my friends and family had a chance to mingle with my friends and family. And when it was all over, Jane went home and took a long nap.
December
Jane, Liz and Karen started the month with a girl’s outing to some cute little restaurant in southern Indiana. A place called Stream Cliff Farm in Commiskey, In. I guess they had lunch, some wine and wandered through the gift shop. I’m sure they had a good time, but I mostly wanted an excuse to post this lovely photo! And to assure you that the Coopers and Beckers did make it back from Alaska. At least the women folk did. That weekend I headed to Cincinnati to watch the Colts get whopped by the Bengals. My brother Bob invited me to the game, but you want to know something weird? They play football outside! In the winter! I know, doesn’t make any sense to me either. But the world was restored to balance the next weekend when my nephew Jake and a friend came up to watch the Colts beat the Steelers. Inside a nice cozy dome. Coopers, Beckers and Willis’ all gathered for one last time this year downtown at the ISO Yuletide Celebration. Yes, the husbands also made it home from Alaska. This was our second year, and I think next year I may try to invite some family up for this event. It really is a fun production. My niece Megan lives in Singapore, so she isn’t around as often as we would like. It’s a big deal when she can make her schedule mesh with those on this side of the world. She and Alvin, (her boyfriend, permanent plus-one, significant other, not her husband but close enough, whatever) were in Cincinnati and decided they wanted to come to Indy for a Pacers basketball game. The NBA is bigger in Singapore than I would have guessed. They came up and we enjoyed the game, which the Pacers won, stopped for a drink and a shrimp cocktail at St. Elmo’s and eventually made it home. The next day we did a quick little driving tour of the city, wandered through the Eiteljorg Museum and then sent them on their way, never to be heard from again until somewhere near the bottom of this page. Our big Willis Christmas this year was hosted by the Columbus, OH sect. And this one set a record for sheer quantity of Willis’ and possibly quantity of fun. As far as numbers are concerned, we totaled 32. We were missing 3 that typically would have shown. But Alvin, and Lauren’s “boyfriend” Simon helped boost our numbers. And I must say they both added to the fun quotient also. Really nice guys that are welcome back next year. We voted on it when you guys left the room. Other than food, drink, gifts, and stories, this year had a couple of cute babies, a bottle of “Pappy” and karaoke that sounded much better live than the videos I watched later, including a rousing rendition of “We Are The World” that should be included in the current Netflex special. Talk to someone Lauren.
That’s all for this year. It was a great year! We are blessed with fantastic friends and family that we love and love us back. I don’t really know what else to ask for. Wishing the same for you!
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
Wayne & Jane
