The Blankenhorn Christmas Letter for 2009

The year 2009 was the most turbulent
Jenni and I have ever faced together. Most of it was expected, and
the results have been good. But even positive change is hard.

The biggest change is Robin. I have not
seen her since August.

But don't panic. This is a good thing.

She was accepted at Texas A&M Kingsville (TAMUK), which has the
only program in the nation studying wild cats in their natural
environment. She is taking her undergraduate degree there in hopes of
joining the program as a graduate student. It's something she has
talked about for over a decade – “I want to study cats in the
wild or in zoos” – and she is on her way.

Not that we don't miss her. But kids
grow up. They get their own ambitions, and must live their own lives.
Robin is 21 now, mature in many ways and child-like in some others.
She wants to help our planet and protect our ecosystems. This is her
path and we all love her dearly for pursuing it.

This did leave John as an only child,
of course.

John had his high hopes dashed. He
earned his International Baccalaureate, with a 91 average and four
years of both Arabic and Chinese, but no college he applied to took
him. He went with me to China and Japan, then he slowly picked
himself off the mat and began moving forward again.

(Here he is last
May in Chengdu, China. That's a 100 ft. statue of Mao Zedong
directing traffic behind him. The last giant Mao left in the
country.)

John has spent the last four months as
a community volunteer. He tutors kids in math at his old junior high.
He works with others in a local park. He continues to take piano
lessons. He takes long walks around the neighborhood. He reads
constantly, mostly Web sites discussing video games, and he has been
accepted at Georgia State University for the coming semester.

Georgia State is a good choice. It's
just 10 minutes away by train. He may use it the way Robin used
junior college, taking a wide variety of courses, making friends and
finding his path. Meanwhile he can sleep in his own bed and feel
safe. The water of adulthood is very cold. Many prefer to dip a toe
in rather than leaping into the unknown as Jenni and I did.

Jenni faced her first year as an orphan
with courage. Her mom's passing last year meant their estate had to
be opened and divided and organized. She spent some time in Texas
helping with that. We decided to consolidate the real estate she
inherited in Flatonia, buying part of a tract next to her parents'
ranch from a cousin.

Mostly, though, Jenni worked. She
inherited her father's enormous energy and she needed it this year. A
project her company has worked on for five years came to completion,
forcing her into six day weeks and 12 hour days. She gets up at 4:30
most mornings and I may not see her until 6 that night. We're told
things will settle down some time next year. Hope so. I miss her.

I saved the biggest for last. I had my
best year in 10, picking up two major blogging contracts from ZDNet,
for a site called Smartplanet, and bringing in $6,000 or more most
months, but working hard for it. I'm now a professional blogger for
CBS – ZDNet's parent was bought by CBS Inc. a few years ago – and
they seem happy with me for now. (This is a close-up of me at the
Shanghai Airport after a 15-hour flight, happier than you can imagine
inside.)

But the really big news is the house.
Our little Craftsman bungalow on Winter Avenue is now a modern home.
We gave the economy our own form of stimulus by having an addition
built onto the back – a master bedroom suite with a walk-in closet
and a separate laundry room. The work started in May and ended only a
week or so ago.

We had what seemed like a dozen work
crews come through. Foundation guys with a Bobcat and cinder blocks.
Framers from the Czech Republic. A drywall circus from Mexico.
Heating and air conditioning contractors, electrical contractors, two
general contractors, two sets of plumbers. Two friends of our friend
Michael Pete installed a wood floor, and two friends of our friend
Ralph Kirkland tiled the bathroom. (Not to mention our neighbor from
across the street, 69-year old Rev. Cantrell Johnson, tiling the
bathroom, at right.)

All year I dealt with the mess, the
noise, and the check-writing. Thank God for ZDNet. We got through.
It's finished. It's done.

Which means you're now welcome. We have
four bedrooms now, and two baths. Not to mention a kitchen big enough
to dance in. Plenty of room for you to come visit. Enough so that
when our kids come home, with their kids, they can all be comfortable
and leave grandma and grandpa alone in the back. Enough room so that
if we need a full time caretaker, many years from now, she can live
in her own apartment, in the front of the house, while we putter
around with handicapped railings and a home we love that has no
stairs in it.

Happily ever after has begun.

Love and Peace.

Dana Blankenhorn

Christmas, 2009