2010 with the Ft. Thomas Longs

Dear friends and family,

We're delighted to come to you this year via this little missive, to share with you some of our activities of the last year(s). I may throw in a few events from several years past, since we've been so bad about letting people know what's up! The biggest question in some minds might well be "Who is that darling girl with Anna and the boys?" Most of you know that we've been working on a Haitian adoption since 2007, and Rosemanie finally popped in on February 16th of this year.

The earthquake in Haiti shook her loose, one of the few bright spots in an otherwise bleak moment in time. Rosemanie has done very well since arriving, and is fitting into Ft. Thomas and Long family life with apparent ease. She is now in the 7th grade, working with an ESL teacher while otherwise taking the usual 7th grade fare. She likes soccer, volleyball, sports in general, and even seems to like the snow, sledding, snowball fights, etc.

Thaddeus is a generally happy and friendly boy, doing well in school, with lots of friends and many fun activities. He likes soccer, kickball, recess generally, riding bikes, playing with friends, legos, math, and certainly reading. He's especially delighted to have a sister to play with, and to ride bikes with. He loves to have brother Tchapo come for a visit (especially when he brings his Wii, of course).

Tchapo is doing well in Louisville, where he lives with his girlfriend Abby (who is a social worker). He's working for Insight (a cable company), selling cable services, and he's recently started back to school (with an interest in business, but he's not quite sure just which facet of business yet). He's going to Indiana University Southeast, which isn't too far from home. Tchapo continues to be interested especially in music, and hopes to get a few tunes he's written onto the Louisville HipHop station. We'll see!

Anna is busy with her two kids, and especially with a daughter! She and Rosemanie like to communicate in French and Haitian, even though Rosemanie is already quite good in English. Anna is finishing her third year (of three) on the First Presbyterian Session, where she's been chairing the Congregational Life committee. I know that she's done a great job of that, based on her committee's activities and the kind words shared by those who work with her. Anna is still working at Highland Nursing Home when she gets a chance (she is part-time, and gets to choose her own hours, which is very good: we need a lot of flexibility!). She likes caring for her elderly friends (and puts up with the rest! There really are some bears over there...).

I'm busy with teaching at Northern Kentucky University, and with a few fun research projects. My focus for the last several years has been a study of the data of climate science, and my conclusion is that we're in for some nasty climate. Ask me if interested (some, especially political leaders, are not!). I had a chance to play some outdoor soccer on an over-30 team this year, and I really liked that. The only thing that made me mad was that my little brother Thad played for me one game while he was in town, and they keep asking if he'll be back! Story of my life with that rascal....;) I'm in a master's program called the Global Field Program, and one of the really great things about the program is that I get to go to some neat places. I went to Belize in August, to investigate the local flora and fauna. What a beautiful place! We came in contact with manatees, jaguars, and a host of other interesting critters. But it was good to get back to my critters.

For those of you who know Kpandja Djawe, Anna's brother, he's doing great: he'll soon be finished with his Ph.D. at the University of Cincinnati, where he studies epidemiology and biostatistics. He's publishing papers, flying around the country (most-to-be-envied locale -- Hawaii!), and doing great. He won a special Fellowship this year, and is supporting himself (and even finding some extra funds to send back to his family). So he's living the All-American success story, while being Togolese! There's also rumor of love in his life, but you'll have to ask him about that....

• Thaddeus, Anna, and I were in Haiti at the New Year, and left just a few days before the earthquake. We were working on Rosemanie's paperwork, mostly, and had made some progress; then the earthquake hit. Spent the next month in weird panic mode, trying to get Rosemanie out. Finally succeeded!
• June was our big month for travel: Anna, Rosemanie, Thaddeus, and I took off for Minnesota for a visit with Uncle Fred and Aunt Nelle, in the company of brother Steve and mom Lyn. We did a little deck repair project, then Rosemanie returned to Ohio with her uncle and grandma, while Thaddeus, Anna, and I went on to Manitoba, Canada, to visit with friends the Wiebes. They live out in the country, with a wonderful garden and a life of farming. We were overwhelmed with their hospitality, and Thaddeus especially had a great time playing with the four daughters of Randy and Lisa. On our way north we'd also visited with longtime friends the Cogans (Charlie was in Peace Corps Togo, too, and Nalongue is a dog-eater from the north of Togo). Again, we were very well cared for. On our way home from Manitoba we stopped with more friends from our dark past: Cindy and Joe Palm, faithful friends dating from our Oshkosh, WI days (1994). Cindy has visited us in Chicago, Michigan, Benin, Haiti, and Ft. Thomas (and Joe's kicked in on the last two). She's basically some kind of stalker, but we love her. Finally we stopped to visit Chicago-days friends the Larry and Becky Glasscock on our way home.

  It was wonderful to see so many friends from our migratory past!

  A mission trip to Hazard, KY followed, featuring Uncle Steve and Grandma Long again. We enjoy that annual trek to the coalfields of eastern KY, where we hope to make a difference in the lives of some people who haven't as many material blessings as we do, but who certainly have many other gifts that we enjoy exchanging.

• Our Cline reunion was in Burlington, KY, this year -- a little closer for us! We have a great time getting together with 30 or so relatives for a week. Lots of card playing, swimming, silly activities, but, more than anything else, just getting a chance to sit and talk, share stories, and find out what's going on in all our lives. We are blessed with a lovely extended family.

• We were blessed with two visiters in the fall: Marek Przezdziecki (Peace Corps volunteer) came for several days in October. It's always great to see my old PCV friends, but Marek and I hadn't seen each other for way too long, so it was especially nice to see him. This came on the heels of my trip to Washington, D.C., to get arrested for protesting mountaintop removal mining. I had the wonderful opportunity to stay with another exPCV, Craig Haas, and Jeff Watson. Again, hospitality could be their middle names (although I know for a fact that Craig's is Roger, so that's unlikely, unless he's changed it lately).

  Just a few days back we hosted our dear friend Ivy Solomon, the missionary with whom we stayed while in Haiti. She makes an annual trip north, to visit with folks at Christian Flights International (and her family), but she's kindly agreed to stay with us each of the last two years while here. This year she celebrated her 90th birthday: that's a long time doing good in the world, and she's racked up a lot of chits to help get her past St. Peter and through the pearly gates. Keep it up, Ivy!

• A day after Ivy left, December 10th, Anna, Rosemanie, and I stood before a judge in Campbell County Family Court and agreed to create a new Long -- Rosemanie Long. The deed is done: she's officially adopted! Only took 3 years and 10 months! We're delighted to have her, and believe that she'll blossom here with us.

• We're glad to be able to share our lives with so many nice people in Ft. Thomas, often members of our church, who enrich our lives in many ways. We have much to be thankful for, but especially friendships and the love of caring friends and family. Have a blessed holiday, and a better 2011!

Love, The Longs