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GREETINGS 2001
from p.phuang@shaw.cawishing you a merry Christmas! Our e-mail address has changed
server, previously @home.com is now @shaw.ca. (p.phuang) is now a
famous title and will never change, as it denotes peter & pauline huang.
YEAR 2001
The beginning of the year marked a sad event, the demise of Pauline's father in Kelowna General Hospital. He was blessed by warm care during his final days and relief of pain at the last moment. Pauline's mother had taken the situation rather well and now without her husband at her side, she requires constant supervision. She is crazy about mahjong. We were fortunate to have hired help for every day, but not any more since September. Since then we became very much tied up.
The year was full of travel for Peter and Pauline
(1) 17-day South America cruising around Cape Horn in February/March.
(2) 14-day coach tour of US and Canadian Rockies, joined by
Paul and Vivien from Australia. Paul is Peter's brother.
(3) Peter's 1958 medical class of HKU reunion in Vancouver
with dinner and local events, and followed by 7-day Alaska cruise in August.
Our enjoyment continues to be dancing and ping pong. Not counting dancing at home for pratice by just the two of us, we have our one-hour weekly private lesson now into its seventh year and two-hour group practice and lesson at the school. We also do not miss the Sunday public dance at the Senior's Centre generally attended by over a hundred people. We play ping pong frequently. Paul and Vivien, John and Dora visited us in Kelowna in July and every day was filled with fun and laughter. A highlight was a private barbecue and cruise in a house boat on our Lake Okanagan. The memorable highlight was Paul never tired of playing ping pong and John never tired of singing. Both of these are Peter's favorites. John from the US is another of Peter's brothers.
There is a feeling of age creeping in a little - arthritic hands, getting forgetful which we call it 'a senior's moment', driving below speed limit much of the time and not eating as much. We will never get a speeding ticket and by ordering a senior's portion in a restaurant, we do not have to pay as much. After all, we are collecting an Old Age Pension and are grand parents. Alexander is a joy to everyone's heart.
The first snowfall came on the Twenty-ninth of November.
As for Year 2002
We shall hold back on cruising this year. Peter already had
his fame on the Alaska cruise with Holland America Lines aboard ms Zaandam.
The social hostess named him Mr. Zaandam.
VISIT AND STAY WITH US, WE HAVE ROOMS TO ACCOMMODATE YOU.
Greetings from the Huang Family
2000
The year 2000 was full
of events for us but we do not wish to bore you with every detail.
Only the important events are related to you about us and we hope that
you enjoy knowing them.
First of all a Merry
& Blessed Christmas to you and your family !
Peter’s retirement
gives no regret at all and there has not been a dull moment every day.
His 5-year colleague, Kim Lefevre, had thrown a most memorable retirement
party for him in January and a number of his colleagues presented us with
the gift of attending the Strauss Ball in Edmonton in February 2001.
This consists of tickets for the Ball, 2 nights in a hotel suite and air
fare. Needless to say, we have not given up dancing.
Every day Peter prayed for good weather and mostly his prayer is heard. He has been extremely active with outdoor chores around the house. The hedges and garden are in top form, changing soil by the truck load. Our residence underwent a major renovation, not for living space, but the frontal appearance. The entire front part of the roof has been elevated several feet in order to extend it for a carport and cover for the walkway. Framing was contracted out and Peter did all the finishing carpentry. It is amazing and you have to visit us to appreciate the change. One Sunday Peter fell 6 feet from a step ladder and initially it seemed that tragedy befell him. He had extreme difficulty with moving and walking for 3 days, but he was up on a ladder again on the 5th day.
Alexander is indeed
a blessing. We had news of likelihood of becoming grand parents in
December and from then on Allison’s pregnancy was very normal. On
Saturday morning, 26th August 2000 we became grand parents and it was also
then that we all knew the baby is Alexander (not Alexandra). On Saturday
evening, 30th September 2000 his full month party was celebrated in a Chinese
Restaurant and in true custom with “red eggs and pickled ginger”.
There was a gathering of one hundred. On Sunday 12th November 2000
Alexander was baptised in St. Pius X Church. Patrick and Jane (a
cousin of Allison) are god parents.
The
youngest Huang, reading at 3 1/2 months
As with all babies, changes occur often and for Alexander, every day for the better. We celebrated Pauline’s mother’s birthday at our home and are very happy that Agnes came home from Vancouver. We thus have a complete family photograph of 4 generations.
The BC seniors’ games this year was held in Kelowna. Pauline and I competed in table tennis. We did not win but we gained the experience, also knowing that our opponents can be beaten. We shall do it again next year. Pauline’s sister and her husband came from Ontario for Alexander’s full month celebration and gave us the opportunity of a vacation. We quickly decided and had a vacation in Hawaii. Our next vacation shall be a South America cruise for 17 days with Holland America in February 2001.
With love,
Peter and Pauline
