Some of you keep up with our family by reading our monthly newsletters. Others of you actually have a life and just ask what we've been up to when you see one of us. The problem with the latter is that you may never see us so you won't have the latest information. To view our personal site, enter www.jrmcdonald.com/index.htm.

Just for those who don't read our monthly news we're going to pause from posting other's updates and write one of our own.

It does seem that much of the focus in our daily lives these days deals with health related things. I can easily recall when we were younger and it seemed that older people talked a great deal about their health.....now I understand.

We've had several significant things happen during this calendar year not the least of which is the fact that the cancer I (Mr. Jerry) had last year seems to be fully cured. Some of you may already know that I was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent what I call a "Prostawhacktomy". That's, of course, a procedure where they whack out one's prostate. I know, that most of you women (and perhaps a lot of men) aren't much up on what that thing does in the first place. Let's just say that it serves a very important role in the reproductive system for men. Fortunately I'm just slightly past reproduction age and that isn't going to be much of a loss for me. You might also know that the prostate has a muscle inside that serves as the main shut off valve for the contents of one's bladder. There is a new procedure that utilizes a surgical robot to do these surgeries. Robotics is much less envasive and more precise so much so that certain things get spared that might otherwise be whacked out. That very important muscle does get removed during prostate surgery but somehow (magic?) there is a way to control bladder flow after surgery. It takes some retraining but full control is the likely outcome these days. If you want to know more about all this you can Google prostate and find more than you ever wanted to know. (...should any of you men get diagnosed with prostate cancer you might want to remember the name Vipul Patel...(my surgeon) He does walk on water but it's somewhat shallow water and he is quite good, you can find him via Google as well.

Mrs. Gerrie has been diagnosed with Osteoporosis and has had a lot of problems with lower back pain over the past few years. That too has seemingly taken a turn for the better. She has been doing a physical workout routine that involves weight bearing and aerobic exercise. She has also begun a regiment of Yoga, all of which is helping greatly. She seems much better these days and that all appears to be a result of the physical routine she is doing.

Most of you know that we have one grandchild. That young lad graduated from Kindergarten this past Spring and is in the first grade now. Aside from the fact that he is incredibly smart, strikingly good looking, well adjusted and way ahead of every other child in his school (maybe in the whole state), he is doing very well. Of course, that's what we expected when he was born...somehow we just knew he was destined for greatness.

We were hoping for additional grandchildren, and we have our fingers crossed that the Mr. Stork might yet fly by this way once again.

We have two children (twins). Our daughter was promoted to Vice President of her section at Chase Bank Mortgage Division here in Columbus this year. She, if you didn't guess, is the mother of that one child mentioned above. She, herself, is exceptionally good looking and smart as well...likely it's the reason that her son, Jacob has those attributes. Daughter Kristin is married to Greg and they are both doing well.

Our Son, Brian, brother of Kristin, is back in college (seems late, but more determined than ever) and working on a business degree. He works for Huntington Bank and currently seeing someone named Kristi, a surgical nurse at a local hospital. That relationship looks promising (I stay way away from making predictions about such things)...but as I mentioned above, we keep our fingers crossed.

Our parents (Gerrie's) live nearby and are doing very well. Dad has taken a few tumbles this year, one of which was kind of serious and landed him in a assisted living place for a tune up. Mom is more active than ever, does her exercises twice a day, cooks the best desserts (which explains my weight problem). Both are very sharp and despite some physical limitations that come with being 86 years old are doing exceptionally well.

Mr. Jerry has been very active in his old hobby of photography and a new one making multimedia production. One of his creations might interest some of you. It's a multimedia show featuring his large collection of photos of "old timers" from AMUUSE camps. If we make it to camp this coming year, and that is possible, we'll be sure to bring it along to share.

In June Mrs. Gerrie hung up her pencils for good. Since becoming a retired person she has been doing some consulting (almost like work) and busying herself with things that interest her. We both enjoy retirement and plan some travel in the near future. We have been talking for the past 10 years about remodeling our house. Hopefully we will find a solution that fits into somekind of reasonable budget during the coming year. If we don't it's likely some of the moss growing on the carpet might take over. (just joking)

As this years ends we look forward to a better year ahead and an opportunity to use the wisdom we gained last year. (assuming that it's really wisdom and not folly).

We extend our wishes for you to be blessed with the physical strength to give meaningful hugs to all those you choose to hold close.

Happy holidays (no matter how you might celebrate them)