T’was another October, the weather again playing tricks,A pre-Halloween storm — heavy rain and high winds in the mix,
Hurricane Sandy was on her way, a 100 year storm,
For the second year in a row! This is becoming the norm.
So while we still had power, it was best not to wait,
To provide you with our fourteenth yearly update!
Our year’s been busy with celebrations and milestones, we must say,
Two graduations, our silver anniversary, and a REALLY BIG birthday.
Becky graduated with a double major in Math and Comp Sci,
Last June, she was quite ready to bid Cambridge “good bye”,
Now that she’s a New Yorker, she enjoys her trips back, though,
There’s barely time to see old friends and work an MIT show.
Becky works for Google as a Site Reliability Engineer,
She loves it and has no doubts about her choice of career.
Half her team is in Australia and she’ll be spending January “down under”.
She’s pretty independent and excited about life, it’s no wonder.
Last year, Julia graduated high school and is now living away,
We’re empty nesters and amazed at how clean the house tends to stay.
Julia goes to Case Western in Cleveland and is all set,
To major in Cognitive Science and maybe become a vet.
Julia is really enjoying school and with the election of late,
She is making the most of being in Ohio, a swing state.
She’s the Democratic Party Rep for the freshman class, and last week,
She went to a rally, saw Air Force One, and heard the President speak!
We went to Hawaii, last June, and were constantly on the go.
We hiked, kayaked, snorkelled and rode bikes from the top of a volcano.
But the highlight of our trip was our doorless helicopter ride,
Even though Julia feared that she might fall out on her side.
This past year was my last leading my Girl Scout troop,
So I have begun to volunteer with a new group.
We’re planning a cycling rally next August and with help from many a friend,
There’ll be over a hundred tandems riding together for the weekend.
With Julia off to college, Mike lost his partner for climbing rock walls,
So I have joined him with the rope catching me on my falls.
I have enjoyed the challenge and the benefits of stretching each limb,
And I’m proud to be among the oldest women at the rock climbing gym.
We even climbed in the Delaware Water Gap — some may think we’re crazy,
But nobody could ever accuse us of sitting around being lazy!
There are so many things that we are particularly thankful for,
Among them our health, jobs and general good luck, we couldn’t ask for more.
Today, I am especially grateful to have a website to help find the rhyme,
Thus saving me lots of poetry construction time.
I hope that you enjoyed our poem again this year,
As always hearing from you — even in prose — would be quite dear.
And for the Holidays, please stay dry and warm,
Before we know it we’ll be done with this storm!