Christmastime 2021

Friends and Family,

Much like Ebenezer waking up on Christmas morning, it’s never too late for our Lu Family Christmas Greeting Tradition!

<Neo> Whoa! </Neo> (apropros of Matrix Resurrections)  That was a silly quick year.  2021 was no doubt better than 2020, but that’s a pretty low bar to clear, and it wasn’t quite as much of an improvement that we thought it would be.  J6 was appalling and surreal, but the peaceful inauguration of a new POTUS was a good counterbalance.  Tom Brady won another Super Bowl, and even if you don’t like him, ya gotta admit at this point that the guy’s pretty good.  The summer olympics and Brexit finally happened, getting a Drivers License became heartbreaking, Britney was emancipated, the US got out of Afghanistan for better and for worse, and we found out that ultra rich people like launching themselves and other ridiculously rich people into space for a few minutes in rockets that look like a….  Johnson— I mean the Rock— was in a lot of movies, and it was actually a halfway decent year for movies and streaming series.  All my 강부’s out there found out that cephalopods could be a game and make you cry, the MCU came back to life, someone finally didn’t mess up Dune, and 007 took the DB5 out for another spin.  Seriously though, getting back to the space thing, dontcha think that if you had billions of dollars, there are an abundance of things that could be done to better human existence on Earth before getting to the whole rocket myself into space for fun thing?  Just sayin’…

Things seemed to be getting back to normal by the middle of the year, but the world forgot about Zombieland Rule #2 (or was that vaccination #2?), and COVID-19 made like a zombie and, well, here we are again.  Practice makes perfect right?  We’re pretty sure we’ll all persevere and get through this, but not gonna lie, this is getting really old.  The pandemic of misinformation has been just as bad as the infectious one.  Keep yourselves and your loved ones safe and healthy by listening to the experts and the science-- the real science, not the half-baked and outrageous Facebook/Twitter/YouTube/QAnon/Political pseudoscience-- and this will pass much faster and reduce unnecessary suffering and loss of life.  If we can hit that bullseye, not burn our bridges before they hatch, and avoid that deceased and desist order, then the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards, and Checkmate, we'll turn it around 360 degrees!

Olivia is an 8th grader and has finally been able to see the inside of her school.  Her writing continues to impress, and she wields a sardonic edge in her stories with good effect.  Growing into her teen years has made her a bit of a romantic, and she enjoys the occasional Rom-Com, as well as keeping up with the latest in anime.   She's decided that volleyball is her chosen sport and made the St. Louis Vision Club Volleyball team.  We love watching her play, but we could use a little help with weekend road trips for away games-- any takers?? <crickets>  She remains an accomplished pianist and a developing flautist, and received honorable mention in this year's state piano competition.  Unfortunately, she's developed a severe allergy to Dad Jokes, and she's really honing those eye daggers and arm punches at the dinner table.

Logan is a Freshman this year, and he has been overjoyed to reconnect in-person with his mates; although this has not deterred them from regular virtual hangouts on Facetime and in the latest online co-op game du jour into the wee hours of the night.  He continues to develop his basketball and lacrosse talents, is budding into an avid scuba diver, and started springboard diving on the swim team this past fall.  Despite being completely new to the sport, he impressed us with steady improvements and placed 3rd in his final meet of the year.  He's added onions to the short list of vegetables that he likes, but remains largely carnivorous-- if there is a polar opposite of vegan, he's it.  Like many boys of his age, scouring the interwebs for the next hilarious video, the meme-of-the-moment, or the newest Rickroll fills a lot of his freetime.

Vivienne is a Senior this year, which has college on all our minds.  She has unfortunately inherited her father's skill at getting things done at the last second, but is nearly done with the myriad essays on her college aps.  We're proud of all the hard work that she has put in to get here, but we're not looking forward to her not being around the house as much.  Ooh, the room just got really dusty all of a sudden...  She played JV/Varsity volleyball this year, and they won their sectional match in the state tournament, but lost in the quarterfinals to the team that won the tournament.  She's a baller and made varsity basketball, but she's giving the dance team a try this winter, and we're sure she'll crush.  She remains a terrific skiier, as are her sibs, and has a fearless sense of adventure.  

Shirley and James are hanging in there with the doctoring thing, although we are admittedly a bit tired and frustrated, as are most folks in the health care profession.  We are trying to exercise regularly, but our Peloton and Mirror are gathering more dust than they should.  We were heartbroken to see the Cubs' roster stripped down to the studs, although the Bulls are giving us some hope of Chicago sports not completely sucking.  If there's a silver lining to the ongoing pandemic, it's the extra family time that being cooped up at home has brought us; and we are truly blessed and deeply thankful for this.

As always, given your and our busy lives, we definitely have not seen, visited, or talked to you as much as we would like, and we hope that this message finds you fantastically well.  May you and yours be blessed with Joy, Love, Health, and Happiness this holiday season and in the coming New Year.

Love and Joy,

The Lu Family