Christmas, 2024
Dear Family and Friends,
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to one and all!
2024 has been a quieter year with no major trips like we had in ’23…just our annual migration north in May, south in October. But we did get to celebrate great-grandson Benji’s first birthday and discover that Benji is expecting a baby brother next month! The two will be 20 months apart…good luck to parents Teddy and Sarah!
Benji is adorable, as you’ll see from the picture at the end of this letter, and we’ve been very lucky to be the recipients of weekly photos from grandparents Scott and Amy who get Benji every Friday for several hours. He loves helping out at the farm and they love having him. Auntie K (our granddaughter Kayleigh) gets to play with him those days too, and frequently our weekly Benji fix will include a picture or 2 of Kayleigh also.
Kayleigh continues to live at the farm where she shares her work time between the horses and her novel which she hopes to get out to agents for consideration before the end of this year.
Her brother Teddy is in a post-doctoral appointment at UConn and hoping to find a more permanent job in physics in Connecticut. His wife Sarah is a very pregnant stay-at-home mom who is lucky enough to be able to do some remote work for her aunt.
Scott and Amy continue their life on the farm and at Travelers for Scott, although Scott has recently changed positions in Travelers, still programming, but in a different area.
Dick & Gee Sauvageau 5606 SW 58th St. Ocala, FL 34474 (352) 873-4301
Dick & Gee Sauvageau 295 Sebago Rd. Naples, ME 04055Cell phones:
Dick: (203) 512-2057 Gee: (203) 744-4193Email addresses:
geesauvageau@hotmail.com dicksauvageau@hotmail.com
Spokane based son Tim continues to love his work as a hospice nurse for non-profit Hospice of Spokane. He continues to share parenting duties of daughter Ember with her mother. As per their parenting plan Tim has Ember approximately 2/3 of the time with Reginnah getting 1/3.
Ember is a happy almost-4-year-old, who is … of course … adorable! Her brothers Alden and Ethan are both attending local colleges and living at home. Ethan is finishing his senior year of high school while completing his sophomore year of college thanks to a “running start” program offered to high school juniors and seniors. Alden graduated from high school a year and a half ago and took this past year+ off as a gap year. He enrolled in community college at the very last moment for the fall semester and seems to be enjoying his classes.
Tim’s ex-wife Cristy, her boyfriend Josh and their daughter, 4-year-old Tiffany, continue to live and work in Hawaii. We stay in touch via phone calls and texts, which, when you think about it, is how we stay in touch with the whole family!
Michael and Jennifer officially divorced in August although they’ve been separated for the past 2+years. They’ve continued to co-parent and work at Noteworthy Chocolate collegially. Michael also works part time in construction with a friend , and that helps pay the bills. The house they had rented for several years was taken out of the rental market, but Jennifer and Alex (formerly Alea) found an apartment still in Bethel, so Alex can finish her schooling where she’s been all along. Alex has always loved music and has taught herself guitar and written a few songs of her own. We continue to stay in touch with Jennifer although not nearly as often as we…or she…would like.
The place Michael has been renting had another room available so Ayden has moved in there. Ayden has continued working at Noteworthy and is currently in his second year of community college. He is planning to transfer to UConn next year to finish out a 4-year degree program.
As for us, Dick was having more issues with back pain, and his back is so messed up that there’s not much that can be done for him. However, he did get on Gabapentin, which has made a huge difference in his pain level. After a summer and early fall of decreasing energy levels, he received a pacemaker last month, and that has upped his energy level far more than we had even hoped! Yay!
Nothing’s new with me. I just keep plugging away, enjoying life both in Maine and in Florida.
The highlight of our year was the first 2 weeks of August when all of our immediate family descended on Sebago Lake State Park for anywhere from 4 days to 2 weeks. It was the first time in 5 years that Tim and his family have been able to get there, and, of course, Ember’s first time. During the second week, the middle cousins had a chance to get to know each other better and bonded in a way none of us had anticipated. As a first time daddy, Teddy was too busy with Benji and Sarah to connect with the younger cousins, and Ember & Tim had already gone back to Spokane, so it was the kids in the middle, Kayleigh (25), Ayden (21), Alden (19), Ethan (17) and Alex (16) who discovered how much they had in common and how much they enjoyed each other’s company. They had such a good time that Michael and family are flying out to Spokane on Christmas Day and Kayleigh’s flying out a day later so the cousins can have another week together!
Our wish for you is for a very merry Christmas and a healthy, happy new year!
Dick & Gee