The Towery's 2002 Christmas Letter

If I had to describe mine and Sue's feelings for the year 2002 in simple terms, I would say "all is well", and for that we are truly thankful. It has been a trying year in many ways, but we have survived and even triumphed over many varied situations.

We celebrated our first anniversary in January in Hilton Head and came back refreshed and ready to take on the world and the world was waiting for us. After being on the market since last year, we finally found a buyer for Mom's house and sold it in February with the buyer wanting occupancy in 10 days! It took a lot of packing and fixing up but we made it, which took us from three houses (mine, Sue's, and Mom's) last year to only one this year. Not knowing what to do with only one house, we went out in May and bought a new one for ourselves. This time we did all the painting, carpeting, and fixing up before we moved in and finally got settled in June. We now have ample room for entertaining and guests and I have a yard to make me exercise. Then the townhouse had to be painted and fixed up and has been on the market since the summer; but of the four people that were interested in buying it, two were bankrupt, one had massive credit card debts, and the fourth did not have a job. Contract after contract seem to fall through, but we live with eternal hope that soon we will be back to just one house to care for. But, if you are counting, that is four houses I have painted in a little over a year and I have decided that is not the job I want when I give up on computers.

Our next big challenge was Mom falling and breaking her hip, resulting in us finally having to move her from her assisted living home to a full care facility. The move was difficult and heartbreaking, but Mom has adapted to the changes and is not in pain or sorrow. She is confined mostly to a wheelchair now, and we have difficulty getting her out to go anywhere, but we get to visit often and she enjoys that.

Two true family blessings came our way with the decision by Jamie and Brian to leave Florida and move back to Memphis, and the announcement by Beckye and Justin that they were going to become parents of a baby girl next March. Sue has already started sewing and buying baby clothes. After much soul searching, Tiffany elected to pick benefits and working conditions over money and accepted a graphic design job at a community college across the river in West Memphis. Greg was in the process of merging his business with another one when the other one went bankrupt, but he was lucky and the paperwork had not been completed so he escaped that disaster.

On the fun side, beside our ritual Hilton Head trip in January, Sue and I have made other trips to Wichita, Kansas, with the Dempseys; to Savannah, Georgia with 8th Air Force; and looked like the Beverly Hillbillies when we pulled a trailer full of furniture to Beckye and Justin in Des Moines. We missed our fall vacation because of the workload I had at the university removing and replacing 170 computers in labs and offices in a one month period. However, the hospital sent Sue on a quick trip to Chicago, to learn how to use a new instrument they purchased from a company there.

As we enter the Christmas season in our new home, we wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and hope that perhaps 2003 will bring you close enough to Memphis to stop by and visit with us for a while.

Tommy and Sue



	The Towery's 2002 Christmas Letter If I had to describe mine and Sue's feelings for the year 2002 in simple terms, I would say "all is well", and for that we are truly thankful. It has been a trying year in many ways, but we have survived and even triumphed over many varied situations. We celebrated our first anniversary in January in Hilton Head and came back refreshed and ready to take on the world and the world was waiting for us. After being on the market since last year, we finally found a buyer for Mom's house and sold it in February with the buyer wanting occupancy in 10 days! It took a lot of packing and fixing up but we made it, which took us from three houses (mine, Sue's, and Mom's) last year to only one this year. Not knowing what to do with only one house, we went out in May and bought a new one for ourselves. This time we did all the painting, carpeting, and fixing up before we moved in and finally got settled in June. We now have ample room for entertaining and guests and I have a yard to make me exercise. Then the townhouse had to be painted and fixed up and has been on the market since the summer; but of the four people that were interested in buying it, two were bankrupt, one had massive credit card debts, and the fourth did not have a job. Contract after contract seem to fall through, but we live with eternal hope that soon we will be back to just one house to care for. But, if you are counting, that is four houses I have painted in a little over a year and I have decided that is not the job I want when I give up on computers. Our next big challenge was Mom falling and breaking her hip, resulting in us finally having to move her from her assisted living home to a full care facility. The move was difficult and heartbreaking, but Mom has adapted to the changes and is not in pain or sorrow. She is confined mostly to a wheelchair now, and we have difficulty getting her out to go anywhere, but we get to visit often and she enjoys that. Two true family blessings came our way with the decision by Jamie and Brian to leave Florida and move back to Memphis, and the announcement by Beckye and Justin that they were going to become parents of a baby girl next March. Sue has already started sewing and buying baby clothes. After much soul searching, Tiffany elected to pick benefits and working conditions over money and accepted a graphic design job at a community college across the river in West Memphis. Greg was in the process of merging his business with another one when the other one went bankrupt, but he was lucky and the paperwork had not been completed so he escaped that disaster. On the fun side, beside our ritual Hilton Head trip in January, Sue and I have made other trips to Wichita, Kansas, with the Dempseys; to Savannah, Georgia with 8th Air Force; and looked like the Beverly Hillbillies when we pulled a trailer full of furniture to Beckye and Justin in Des Moines. We missed our fall vacation because of the workload I had at the university removing and replacing 170 computers in labs and offices in a one month period. However, the hospital sent Sue on a quick trip to Chicago, to learn how to use a new instrument they purchased from a company there. As we enter the Christmas season in our new home, we wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and hope that perhaps 2003 will bring you close enough to Memphis to stop by and visit with us for a while. Tommy and Sue