Merry Christmas 1999

Steve & Anne Pemberton

May the winds of peace blow through your window...

Merry Christmas and Holiday Greetings to All,

The year 1999 was a century-stopper in many ways. To the good, we have been basically healthy and working hard during the year. We have endured sadness this year, but we have had a plethora of joys from within the families.

Christmas 1998 brought the sadness of the death of Sam McDonald, Sr.. . A wake was held in earrly 1999 because of delays caused by the area ice storm. His ashes were entrusted to Sam, Jr.

In May, Bev Pemberton, Sr. passed. Papa was buried in his plot in Richmond. Big Mama is doing well.

In the fall, we learned that Mom Smith had taken a turn for the worst. She was able to choose her nursing home, and her beloved Fred came to Virginia to live with us.  Mom says the food is wonderful st St. Mary's!

The upside of Sam, Sr.';s death is that we have regained contact with his family. We e-mail to Wesley's daughter Cheryl, and sometimes to Bonnie. Wesley has written, and we owe him a letter.

John is now a System Analysist for the bank, which is now Bank of America. Sharon moved to the Pensacola branch, and John has been traveling to visit her.

Sammy had gotten a job with Seward Luggage in January, but fell on hard times, and is again out of touch.

Anne is an independent educator this year. She was a homebound teacher, and is helping with Homeschooling Taylor. She is working at Southside Elementary school as the computer teacher to the school of 400+ children in K-2nd grades.

Steve will be working when the new years rolls in to insure that government services in Richmond don't fail at Y2K.