Compton Christmas 2000
A Year of Reflection to end the Millennium
The coming of Winter causes us to reflect over the last year and to count, with joy, our blessings and optimism as we move into the Year 2001, start of a New Era. It has indeed been an eventful Year 2000. Alas, it was dominated by the death of Nancy’s father, Lewis Harper Dickson, Sr. Nancy spent many hours going back and forth to Knoxville to be with her father and to help her mother with the difficult things that had to be done. Nevertheless, we continued to make our house in Edgewater into a home, so we and the cats are now comfortably settled in. While the rest of the country appeared to stay in a drought, we had a wonderful spring, filled with azaleas and rhododendrons, and frequent rain throughout the year. We also got to enjoy the Washington Cherry Blossom Festival and the Smithsonian (the Impressionist exhibition was a real treat)! Getting adjusted to Nancy’s new job in sales as a Government coordinator has been a challenge this past year due to the corporation’s reorganization and the realignment of sales and marketing into a new subsidiary, FedEx Services. However, Nancy has continued to stay focused on her new job responsibilities. She attended two business trips – one in quaint Alexandria, VA in early January and the most recent one in Pittsburgh, PA in November. The highlight event, however, was witnessing the arrival of two Pandas that were flown on a FedEx Express MD-11 from China to Dulles International Airport in Virginia. She was able to get brief glimpses of the two cuddly creatures before they were unloaded onto a FedEx truck and transported to the Washington Zoo. In October, Ellena and Adam came up from Pensacola and spent a week here in Edgewater. They had an opportunity to attend the Renaissance festival, check out downtown Annapolis, and take a side trip to DC and Delaware all in a week’s time. For Thanksgiving, the two of us stayed at home and had a nice visit with Nancy’s Mother, Sara, who came up for the holiday weekend. Steve did a great job cooking the turkey and Nancy’s pumpkin souffle turned out almost as good as Martha Stewart’s version. On Friday, Steve, Nancy and Sara took a road trip to see one of Mother’s friends who had moved to a small community north of Baltimore. Overall, we’re making it okay in Maryland. There’s so much to see and do here. We haven’t even touched the surface yet but we have been to a Baltimore Ravens game (vs Tennessee) and plan to be at FedEx Field on Christmas Eve when the Redskins play the Arizona Cardinals. Even though we’re here in the Mid-Atlantic area, one thing remains constant – we’re still loyal UT fans. Here’s hoping the Big Orange beat Kansas State! Steve also managed a trip to Florida to see Janene, Loney and family in Holt, as well as Adam and Ellena who are cheerfully settled in Gulf Breeze (and bringing us a grandbaby in May!) During this trip, he also attended his 35th Choctawhatchee High School reunion in Fort Walton Beach. His business also took him to San Francisco and Philadelphia, where he was finally able to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. This is what a foot of snow looks like Following are links to the annual Christmas letter,as we continue to communicate with our unwired friends. Also are links to related pages, just for fun. And also, a link to the Knoxville News-Sentinel article reporting Nancy's father's passing.
