2017 has been a year of loss. My mother Eva passed away peacefully in her sleep the last week in January of natural causes (she was not ill before so it was a bit of a shock). I am just so glad I was able to take her to Cuba last fall to see her family. That same day I also was laid off my job of 11 years. Later in the year we also lost Kenny’s great-aunt Eda who lived in Austin (she was his grandfather’s sister) as well as my Uncle Robert in Havana. It was a rough start to 2017 with a lot of emotions, crying and stress but with the support of Kenny, who has been amazing through all of this, my friends and my sister Lilian, we have picked up the pieces and moved forward.
On the work front, Kenny continues at Chevron, nowadays often traveling to conferences as an expert speaker. I worked for a small agency and have been learning so much including how to work in a virtual space. The dogs are thrilled to have me at home as well and plant themselves at my side all day in my home office. I hope to build up a client base of small local business that need help with their social media. I’ve included my business card if anyone is interested in learning more.
Speaking of Radar and Rosie… they are doing great. More playful than ever. And no worries, Mom’s beloved dog Perla found a new family and has a new beginning as well… all the way up on North Dakota and they love her. Her new “mom” is even a vet!
We had plenty of good stuff happen too. As always, travel is our stress reliever and as years past, we managed a few trips as well. At the very beginning of January, I introduced a dear friend to New York City to celebrate her birthday. We had an amazing girls’ trip and NYC even gifted us a day of non-stop snow. It was beautiful! In the spring, we headed to Spain with friends. There, we split our 10 day trip between Madrid & Barcelona with day trips to Toledo and Segovia. In May I drove to New Orleans where I met my sister, brother-in-law and oldest niece for a weekend of great food and music. In August I headed to South America for the first time and spent a week in Buenos Aires by myself to re-group after a rough few months. I fell in love with “BA” and hope to return with Kenny! Finally, I headed to Havana for a 3rd time in November. I took advantage of the direct flight on United from Houston to Havana which was wonderful. The holidays will be spent visiting family in Florida – my sister’s family and Kenny’s aunt. Kenny also traveled to Bangkok, Thailand for work which he really enjoyed.
NYC / Segovia, Spain / Bangkok, Thailand / Buenos Aires, Argentina
In closing, we wish all of our friends and family much love this holiday season. May many positive adventures await you in 2018. Please stay in touch too, whether you are near or far!
Happy Holidays & Happy New Year! Elaine, Kenny, Rosie & Radar