“I salute you! There is nothing I can give you which you have not; but there is much, that, while I cannot give, you can take.
No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today. Take Heaven.
No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present instant. Take Peace.
The gloom of the world is but a shadow; behind it, yet, within our reach, is joy. Take Joy.
And so, at this Christmas time, I greet you, with the prayer that for you, now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows flee away. “ Fra Giovanni AD 1513
Dear Friends:
We think–though you never know what the passage of time might affect–that we’ll remember 2001 for:
- The biennial Montana legislative session that presented Dave with the tyranny of writing a “this-day-in-legislative-history” minute—for EVERY day of the session’s 90 days and required Marcella to draft upwards of 100 briefing papers and flip-chart outlines.
- A quick but glorious trip to Eugene, Oregon, for Emily’s graduation from the University of Oregon. We reveled in an hour on the coast, the campus’s lush beauty, the high desert land of central Oregon, and Emily’s happiness and achievements. We shuddered in Portland’s bumper-to-bumper traffic.
- Several weekends and an honest-to-goodness full week up the North Fork, creating cords of firewood (the chainsaw is still smoking) and a brand-new, barn-red, built-from-scratch outhouse—all designed to aid Emily and Sergio in their plans to spend this current winter living in Dave’s “big house” on the property. So far so good!
- The birth of several new “jerks” for Dave’s “Jerks in Montana History” repertoire, including an examination of Montana’s World War I Council of Defense—and its frightening illustration of cultural intolerance and war-mongering run amuck, all too relevant for our post-September 11 world.
- Marcella’s visits to see her dad, Paul Sherfy, in Kansas—and to help him move to a new assisted-living facility.
- The opportunities that college basketball, the North Fork, and relative proximity brought us to enjoy Amanda and Bob—as they head into the homestretch of their college careers. Amanda is in Havre (Montana State University–Northern) this year; Bob remains in Great Falls (University of Great Falls).
- A thousand daily miracles and joys (notwithstanding the grumpy, tired kibitzing you might have heard from us along the way): the sweep of Northern Montana breaks and island mountain chains as we drive northeast to Havre; a five-point buck sleeping under the lilacs for a day in our Helena backyard; breath-holding finishes to World Series games; the welcome and kindness of Montana audiences as Dave travels around the state to talk; a long summer’s rich harvest of homegrown tomatoes; good novels and essays—sufficient to divert Marcella’s evening attentions from administrative nonsense; great family moments; decent health. And you!
