Christmas, 2020

Dear Family & Friends,

2020 – what a year!!!! I know we’re all reeling from the unexpected pandemic and from the horrific divisiveness of the recent political campaign. We hope you and your loved ones have stayed healthy this year and we hope our country can heal politically.

We have managed to stay healthy other than the normal bumps in the road to aging. Although Gee tested positive for Covid in June, we believe it was a false positive because a month or so later, when she donated blood, no antibodies were found in her system, and she never had any symptoms.

Our year started out pretty normal. Dick turned 77 in February, and a week before Gee’s birthday in March Dick pulled off a total surprise party for her 75th, followed on her birthday by a surprise 4-day visit from our 2 Connecticut families minus Teddy and Sarah who couldn’t get away.

Dick & Gee Sauvageau
5606 SW 58th St.
Ocala, FL 34474
(352) 873-4301
        

Dick & Gee Sauvageau
295 Sebago Rd.
Naples, ME 04055
        
Cell phones:
    Dick: (203) 512-2057
    Gee: (203) 744-4193
        
Email addresses:
    geesauvageau@hotmail.com
    dicksauvageau@hotmail.com
        

The kids flew home just as the world was beginning to shut down for Covid, and fortunately no one got sick from traveling.

We hunkered down here in Florida, staying home except for going to the grocery store about every 2 weeks. All activities here in our community stopped and our pool was closed, but Gee took up walking and Dick continued to ride his bike for exercise. We were also able to drive around our community in our golf cart and say hi to our neighbors in passing. And we both still had our hobbies to keep us out of trouble.

We did end up flying up north about 6 weeks later than we normally go, so we had a much shorter than usual summer. Again, activities at camp were curtailed too, but we managed to keep ourselves entertained.

Probably the highlight of this year was the Labor Day weekend wedding of our oldest grandson Teddy to the love of his life Sarah. Their wedding plans changed several times over the course of the year, as Covid ramped up and activities had to be curtailed. However, they pulled off a beautiful outdoor wedding with about 80 people on an absolutely perfect late summer day. They arranged the chairs so that people could sit by the people they live with, separated from people they don’t. Everyone was masked (except for picture taking) and they kept the reception to champagne and wedding cake. It was a lovely event!

The rest of the Sauyet branch of the family is doing fine. Scott has been working from home since the Coronavirus hit. Amy’s riding lessons have picked up some since it’s an individual sport and most kids aren’t doing their team sports or music lessons. Kayleigh (21) will have finished the last of her college courses by the time you receive this letter and will be an official college graduate. None of us is quite sure what’s next for her. Time will tell.

The rest of the east coast family has been remaining diligent about avoiding Covid-spreading activities because mom/wife/d-i-l Jennifer is severely immune-compromised. She has been able to work on their chocolate business from home, while Michael has continued to go into the chocolate “lab” to create and ship the beautiful engraved chocolates they sell.

Ayden is now 17 and a senior in high school. When Covid shut down the schools last spring, he LOVED virtual learning. He was given assignments for the week and would spend all day Monday getting his work done so that he could take the rest of the week off to do his own thing. It’s not as much fun this year as he’s expected to sit in on his long-distance classes.

Alea (age 12 and in 7th grade) does NOT like virtual school at all! She is a very social young lady and misses her friends…a LOT!

The west coast Sauvageaus are doing okay. Tim, a hospice nurse in Spokane, has not been significantly affected by Covid. For the most part he goes to patients’ homes, and Covid is not what’s causing their hospice diagnoses.

Tim was engaged to a young woman named Reginnah who was pictured in last year’s Christmas letter. Unfortunately, that relationship did not work out and they are living separately. Reginnah is expecting their baby early in January, and Tim hopes to be included in their baby girl’s life.

Alden and Ethan (ages 15 and 13 respectively) are doing virtual learning and neither one seems particularly enamored of it. However, Ethan has significant issues with asthma and needs to be super careful not to get Covid, so they spend most of their life at home.

Cristy, Tim’s ex-wife, is still living in California and is engaged to a guy there. They are also expecting a baby – also a girl – due the day before Christmas! So, within the next month or so Alden and Ethan will have 2 brand new half sisters!!! And we’ll have one more real granddaughter and one “fake” granddaughter, since Cristy is still a part of our lives. Oh, my!

Warm wishes for healthy, happy holidays!

Dick & Gee