OUR YEAR

Our year has been one of enormous change. Last year we decided to paint the interior of our house in the expectation that we would live there long term. No sooner did we do that than we realized that our beloved home and garden were more than we could continue to manage comfortably even with help.

Reluctantly, we decided to move before something happened that left us no choices. As we had visited CCRC retirement communities already, we selected one in downtown Seattle that met our needs: pleasant environment, reliable services, close to family and our health care providers, and, not least, accepting of pets.

Mirabella is a large retirement community with over three hundred units contained within a very urban city block. Inside, it is tranquil with many athletic facilities, library, game room, auditorium, and restaurants. Residents come from varied backgrounds and have wide-ranging interests.

We knew our new apartment would be half the size of our former house. We had already begun divesting and clearing out our “stuff” in preparation for painting our house, and we continued in earnest gifting, resettling, donating, or discarding everything we didn’t absolutely need. Parting with family heirlooms and memorabilia proved the most difficult. We are grateful for the help we received from family and friends.

Meanwhile, we were also working on renovations in the new apartment. So many decisions to make at once!

In early May, the sale of our house closed, and we moved on May 29th. Whew! What a relief!

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OUR FAMILY

CASEY, LISA & SOPHIE

This year, Casey has continued as senior taproom lead for Locust Cider Co. , where he oversees the two cider bars that bookend Pike Place Market. Lisa has also continued in her position in development and alumni relations at Lakeside School.

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TIM AND KEVIN

Tim and Kevin live in Ede, a small town about an hour from Amsterdam. However, their travel itineraries are anything but small. In February Tim went to Austria. In June, Tim and Kevin visited Avignon and environs to explore possible locations for a second home. In July they visited Innsbruck and the surrounding area. In August Kevin went to eSwatini, formerly Swaziland, for fieldwork, and together they toured South Africa. In October they invited friends to a chalet at Chernex in Montreux, Switzerland, to celebrate Kevin’s 50th birthday. While there, Kevin took photos of a moody Lake Geneva.

Meanwhile, both remain in their respective positions, Tim as a lecturer at the International School of Business at HAN University of Applied Sciences, where he is teaching research skills to freshmen in business and communications, and Kevin is an Associate Professor at Wageningen University and Research in the Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Group where he is teaching courses on Disease Ecology and Climate Change Ecology. Some of Kevin’s current work considers whether natural features have legal rights and how these might inform environmental policy.

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BEN AND NICOLE

In July, Ben and Nicole became the delighted owners of a much-anticipated Yorkie puppy. We can’t imagine a cuter one than Kenzie, now seven months old and weighing in at three-ish pounds.

The two enjoyed time off in Mexico and Hawaii. A Caribbean cruise (above) was welcome R&R.

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WISHING YOU JOYFUL HOLIDAYS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM ALL OF US.

(continued from first column) Mirabella provides many services and a staff to deliver them; we’re told not to replace light bulbs or park our car ourselves. We don’t mind having less to manage.

Outside, the South Lake Union neighborhood buzzes around us: traffic, sirens, and armies of tekkies on foot or speeding silently on electric scooters. After six months, we’re still adjusting to this busy world.

Our studio is located in our previous neighborhood. There’s plenty of room for both of us to work, and we look forward to spending as much time there as we can. Bill continues to paint portraits, which have a distinct style. (You’ll find his recent work here.) Becky has spent the past year rethinking her subjects and exploring different mediums. (Some of her recent studies here.)

When we’re not doing art, many activities await us at Mirabella—concerts, lectures, discussion groups, exercise classes/facilities, and sharing meals with new acquaintances. We both attend a meditation group, and Becky attends the tai chi class and has organized an Italian language group so she can practice speaking.

(continued from column 1.) After spending her freshman year at Colby College in Maine, Sophie transferred to Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA at the beginning of this, her sophomore year. She’s majoring in environmental humanities and plays on Whitman’s women’s varsity volleyball team.

Of course, we were delighted to have Sophie closer to us. We visited her and Whitman’s beautiful campus at the end of September and enjoyed learning more about the history of Walla Walla, the historic Marcus Whitman hotel, and the surprising Pioneer Park with its large aviary filled with exotic birds from faraway places.

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Ben and Nicole continue in their respective positions and careers. Ben works with Metzler Real Estate as an asset manager on behalf of a German investment fund and oversees the management of class A office buildings. This year, he added Chicago to his portfolio, which already included buildings in NYC, Boston, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Denver, and Austin. Nicole, too, continues her work as a pharmacist at Swedish Cancer Institute .