Come my friends, ‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.”
- Alfred Tennyson
Dear Friends,
Happy Valentine’s Day!
A few weeks ago, Jack asked us if we were planning to send
out Valentine’s Day cards to our friends and it made great sense to us. After all, for some of you, this is the first
time you have heard from us in a long time – for that absence, we apologize and
look forward to bringing you up-to-date and hope to hear from you in the coming
weeks and months.
In late December, Jack turned six and he is currently in
Kindergarten at Our Lady of Victory School in Washington, DC. This has been a great year for our son. He graduated from Pre-K back in May, learned
how to swim, played organized sports for the first time (and scored a goal in
his opening game) and kept the tooth fairy busy as he lost and grew back five
teeth including the two front ones.
Our little man, Jack, is the joy of our lives – and we love
our family time together from going to see the Baltimore Orioles, to teaching
Jack how to grill marshmallows to watching him change into Batman (his
Halloween costume). Most importantly, we
enjoy spending time with him to absorb his wonder, enthusiasm and
innocence. He has enriched us as parents
and people.
This year, we paid homage to the family tradition known as
the “long car trip.” We spent the Fourth
of July week in Camden, Maine where the “Linde men” managed to
eat some type of lobster every day and gorge themselves on all things blueberry
(pie, soda or beer). We think the
dramatic increase of blueberry and lobster consumption helped trigger Jack’s
latest growth spurt – he is now over four-feet tall and weighs close to 60
pounds – of course, that vacation also caused his Father to grow!
Later that month, we headed to upstate New York to attend
Jason’s High School Reunion at Glimmerglass State Park in Cooperstown. During that special weekend, Jason walked
through his childhood home, returning for the first time since 1985.
As the Assistant Dean for Marketing, Admissions and Outreach
at the School of Public Affairs at American University, Jacqueline ended the
summer planning and holding a successful orientation for new students while
Jason and Jack spent the week in Central and Western New York visiting Jason’s
Dad. They treasured this trip – where
Jack had the opportunity to visit his Grandfather’s factory, tour Niagara Falls,
walk around Syracuse University and pretend he was “Lightning McQueen” from the
“Cars” movie as they raced around a go-kart track at the local amusement park.
Jacqueline is enjoying her job at American University and in
May will celebrate her third anniversary at AU. The 2006 and 2008 election cycles have proved to be an exciting time to
recruit graduate students as more and more people are considering a career in
public service. Just a few weeks ago,
more than 7,000 people attended the Obama/Kennedy endorsement event at American
University.
Jackie has become an avid Eagle’s fan attending the men’s
basketball games with Jack and Jason. With
a nerf hoop indoors and a small basket in our backyard, we often play together
and pit “AU” against “Syracuse.” Thankfully, we also try to balance sports with board games and
children’s theater.
We chose the Tennyson quote to open this
letter because it serves as a reminder of what truly is important, a point
driven home by the sudden death of Jason’s Dad in early October. His Father, John, passed away in his sleep at
age 64 due to deep vein thrombosis. Since then, we have all remembered what a kind man his father was and we
are most appreciative of the time Jason, Jack and his Dad spent together this
summer. Last year, Jason and John also
had the opportunity to come closer, and discuss their lives together, as he
helped his Dad recover from two eye surgeries.
His Father’s passing helped bring clarity to
Jason’s life and as a result, after nearly three rewarding and challenging
years as a Vice-President on the Public Affairs team at Ogilvy Public
Relations, Jason is transitioning back to government, politics and the
non-profit world this year. He is
currently teaching as an Adjunct Professor at the Graduate School of
Political Management at George Washington University.
As we reflect on last year and begin to look ahead, we are
most appreciative and grateful for your friendship. And, we look forward to staying in touch with
you throughout the rest of 2008. If you
are visiting Washington this year, please let us know. We would love to get together.
The best way to reach us is via our email
addresses – JacquelineLinde@yahoo.com
and Jasonplinde@yahoo.com, and our
mailing address is 3517 Leland Street, Chevy Chase, MD 20815.
Have a wonderful 2008!
Sincerely
yours,
Jacqueline,
Jason and Jack
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