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Dear Friends,
Firstly we need to apologise if last year you did not hear from us. The main reason was that while writing the Xmas letter our computer broke and unfortunately that was where we kept the majority of the addresses. It took 2 to 3 months to restore and retype the critical data onto a new computer, so we tend to perform weekly backups now, as we always should have!
This year started badly with John being ill with Broncitus and worries about one third of the workforce being made redundant at work. Fortunately he didn’t get made redundant and, in fact, in February he was promoted and was given a company car. John chose a Citroën C5 diesel estate. As soon as we returned from summer holiday this year, John was again sick, this time his right eye suddenly became swollen and after many trips to Doctors and Hospital he was off work for 7 weeks. Despite all the scans, blood test and eye examinations every 2 or 3 days they never did find out the cause and it went away eventually. During this time John had double vision and had prisms to allow him to walk. Then in November he pulled a muscle in his hip, which is still giving problems. At his work there has been a Merger between National Grid and Transco, so again there is an expectation of at least another 40% redundancies in his department, so for John its been a bad year but he is still surviving if a little grumpy.
Mark, this summer, reached his 18th year. For Christmas last year he had a Moped so he finds himself independent, so we only see him when he need feeding or to sleep. He finished college where he was studying to be a chef and waiter. He decided he did not want to become a chef but he does not know what he wants to do yet!
Paul this year completed his school exams (GCSE) and now has move on to “AS” levels and towards “A” levels. Currently Paul wants to go to University but time will tell if his grades are high enough to get him there; so far his is doing very well. He achieved AA in science and A in Electronics and Computers (IT), B for Maths, C for English and Geography. With the money we gave him for his good results plus what he earned from his summer job he bought himself a new computer. Now he is studying Maths, Physics, Electronics and Computers at the local 6th Form College. At Christmas he is getting a Moped, like his brother did, but he has to pay for it over the next two years.
Antonietta still works at Traderman where, as always, there is too much to do. She had a new car in October, a pale blue diesel Citroën C3. She is very pleased with it and finds it much easier to park than the larger Daewoo Leganza, which she was driving before. In April she became the godmother of her sister’s son Mikael. She still goes to the gym before going to work in the morning and goes to dance classes twice a week but still can’t manage to loose weight.
For our summer holidays this year we went camping in France. We took a friend of Paul’s (Danny) with us as well. Apart from the night when the lads didn’t come back until 4 in the morning, it was quite a peaceful holiday.
In January of this year, Antonietta’s youngest brother and his wife adopted a family of three children; a 3-year-old little girl (Gilly), her 4-year-old brother (Scott) and 6-year-old brother (Jon). It must mean a complete change of life style for them but they did not want to split the family.
That’s all for now. Please let us know your news and lets hope that next year will be somewhat healthier.
Best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
From Antonietta, John, Mark & Paul
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