Christmas Newsletter 2008

 Christmas 2008 

Happy Holidays, everyone!  The Christmas season can now officially start since I (Mary) sang Handel’s Messiah last night at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.  For the past nine years, our dear friend, Dolores Otte, and I have been singing in the chorus, which is led by fifteen members of the Minnesota Orchestra! We are the “two token Catholics from the North” who, along with about 50 other singers from the surrounding community, sing the choruses while four professional soloists sing the arias.  We have several friends that have made it a tradition to attend our concerts and afterward, when we walk out of church and experience the snow falling on the pretty lights on the pine trees, I know that the season can officially start for the McGraw’s.  Next year, our concert will be on December 20…. Save the date and join us!

Well, that was the commercial.  Now for the employment, travel and medical reports.  Last January, I retired from Fairview Health Services.  We spent the first week of my retirement in Las Vegas.  And then, the end of January, we, along with our cruising friends, Dan and Dolores Otte, sailed on a cruise to the Caribbean.  Of course, both trips were fantastic and fun.   

I had a really hard time walking around during those trips which helped me decide to have my other hip replaced the end of February.  (Very successful and I feel great!)  Two weeks’ into my recuperation, however, Norm had a triple heart bypass! (Very successful, too!)  Norm and I naturally could not take care of each other and that’s where we learned the very humbling experience of having to rely on family, friends, and neighbors to drive us to doctor and therapy appointments, cook meals, complete household tasks, etc.   We truly don’t know what we would have done without all the help we received.

Our next trip was in July to visit David.  He’s been living in Reno, Nevada, for about ten years now and is a hydrogeologist for the Desert Research Institute.  He’s still into mountain climbing, skiing, hiking, and all things “outdoors.”  David always comes home for Christmas and I know his three nephews are anxious to have their silly Uncle David play with them.  I know, I know…… it took me four paragraphs to mention the grandsons…. What is wrong with me?  More about them later.

Our last trip of the year was one that we needed to do in order to check off one of the items on our Bucket List.   We have always wanted to see one of the big Tennis Championships; therefore, we attended the US Tennis Open in New York last August.  We stayed at a very little hotel in Times Square and saw a lot of tennis.  Perfect weather and perfect trip.  Of course, we played “tourist” and went to Ellis Island (where I found my grandpa John Lehecka’s documents), the Statue of Liberty, two Broadway shows (Hairspray and Young Frankenstein – both were terrific!), etc.

You may recall that a few years’ ago, I had bariatric surgery and lost 100 pounds.  This October, I had plastic surgery to reduce the size of my upper arms.  The scars are still quite noticeable, however, my arms are now normal in size and I’m quite happy I had it done.

Michael and his wife, Sally, have been married for six years and live in Minneapolis.  Sally works for the University of Minnesota Medical Foundation, sings in a band, and has her own “how to dress for success” web site.  Michael works for the Social Security Administration and has a studio in northeast Minneapolis where he works on his photo art.

John and his wife, Aida, and their 18-months’ old son, Johan, live in Minneapolis right next to the Columbia Golf Course.  John works in customer service at the Hyatt Hotel and Aida works part time at a Mexican restaurant near their home.  John met Aida at the Hyatt in Acapulco, Mexico, where she managed two of their restaurants.  She’s getting acclimated to the Minnesota winters slowly but surely.  It’s fun to see her spice up our bland Minnesota food.  Johan is busy ALL the time (we have yet to see him sit).  He has the most beautiful huge brown eyes, two dimples, and a head of curly dark brown hair.  We get to seem him quite often and so enjoy Johan waving “bye-bye” in two languages!

Rebecca and Tony live close to us, also (in Blaine).  Dean (age 5) and Tim (2-1/2) come to our home on Tuesdays to play with us and to give their dad a break.  Tony is a stay-at-home dad and Rebecca works as an inside sales manager at MedTox in Roseville.  Dean is quite the sports nut (taking hockey lessons right now) and he played T-ball last summer.  Tim has a ready smile and likes to ride his tricycle …really fast.  We love all the time we spend with them!

We hope you all have a blessed Christmas and a very wonderful 2009.  Hopefully, by next year I’ll have figured out how to incorporate photos into our newsletter.  In the meantime, just imagine us as healthy and happy!