Monday, January 5, 2009

2008 Family Summary and Accomplishments

As we start our New Year, we wanted to reflect on this past year and what made it special. 2008 was a monumental year in some ways and in other ways; it was one of the more challenging ones. We’re proud we got through it and excited about now starting 2009! We initiated the year with a much-reveled trip to India visiting beloved family and friends and included sightseeing to Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. In addition to India, we continued our travel likings through-out the year and made road or plane trips, either collectively or separately, single or multiple times, to the following: Around South Carolina (Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, Pawley’s Island), Cleveland (several trips before moving here), Virginia, Florida, Pennsylvania, Michigan, California, Illinois, North Carolina, and Toronto. We kind of started 2009 with traveling too – a lovely trip to family in Pennsylvania, where we met another hand full of distant relatives.

Ashok completed residency and started fellowship and is now even halfway through that. We’re so proud of him and can’t imagine that the point we waited so long to get to is getting closer. Akshay completed 4th grade, 2nd-year in piano, and achieved a second-degree brown belt in Charleston and its equivalent in Ohio in Tae Kwon Do. Ashu creamed Kindergarten, 1st year of Bharat Natyam classes, and earned a green belt in Charleston and a green-tip belt in Cleveland in karate. She also lost her first tooth and then several others, making tons of money from the tooth fairy in the process.

My accomplishments can’t be measured in terms of certificates, belts, or things of that sort, but I supported my three A’s diligently and with that my goals were met too. I continued my active social life in Charleston with get-togethers, exercise sessions, karate, cooking, book clubs, and a little work here and there; though unfortunately, much came to a halt in our move to Cleveland. And with that we made “the big” move from Charleston to Cleveland, missed friends in the process and made new ones on the other end.

As life dichotomy is sometimes, we congratulated many friends on many new babies this year, job changes, house changes, promotions, etc…but we also had to console other friends that went through much hardship either through health reasons, financial reasons, death, and others. Our prayers are always there for all of them, in good times and bad.

Summer 2009 will include another “big” move, but hope this one proves to be our last, one that will ground us and allow us to grow roots. Our New Year’s Resolution have been made and leaving anonymous which resolution(s) belong to whom, here they are: Improve diet and exercise, work on temper control, try to be more humble, improve listening skills, and other personal developments. And finally, we hope to continue our 2009 with good friends, family, food, travel, love, support, devotion, commitment, knowledge, passion and all the things that make life what it is. Cheers!