The following is from Bill Koshelnyk and was sent near Christmas 1999...
Happy Holidays!
Anyone who doesn't know we're approaching the end of 1999 -- not to
mention
the century and the millennium -- just hasn't been paying attention. All
the preoccupation with Y2K has been enough of a "millennium bug." We'll
be
glad to see 2000 just to be free of being bugged about what we suspect
will
turn out to be the biggest non-story of the century.
But if we should wind up sitting in the dark early on New Year's Day,
we'll
be reflecting on a year that brought completion of a major era in our
family life. We've gotten both of the kids through school!
Dan finished work on his bachelor's degree in music composition at
Western
Michigan University with an outstanding student performance of six of his original instrumental and electronic pieces (good stuff!). We put
together
a little reception afterward for those in attendance. Dan had advised
that
since most of his friends are vegetarians, all we'd need would be some
cut
greens and a little dip. We brought a hefty tray of cold-cuts along with
the greens. You should have seen those vegetarians suck up the ham and
pressed turkey!
Dan will still be taking a couple of courses and working to complete a
collection of his original songs at Western's recording studio. And he'll
continue with his weekend gig as keyboardist at St. Anthony. But all in
all, he's launched. Plans now are to get a band together and assault the
music biz.
Meanwhile, Judy is pursuing her own creative endeavors in Colorado
Springs,
where she has developed (pardon the pun) into quite a skillful
photographer. Her studio work is complemented by a growing portfolio of
nature images, acquired on treks into Colorado's abundant mountains. Just
imagine our petite daughter laden with a three-foot-high backpack, pistol
on hip, tromping through the wilderness. The pistol is to ward off local
wildlife, many of whom feign curiosity about her large-format view camera
to initiate conversations.
Little do they know that she has an entire other life as Gia (Jai´-yah),
the belly dancer. Judy has become smitten with Middle Eastern dance,
which
she describes as the most intriguing form of stage movement she's
encountered and a fascinating cross-cultural study in femininity (not at
all the salacious cliché it's often presented as being). Photographing
some area dancers got her interested. She took a few lessons, and now
performs occasionally at a local Middle Eastern restaurant.
Kathy and Bill continue in their pursuits -- she keeping tabs on births,
deaths, diseases and assorted health concerns in the Hillsdale region,
and
he hustling freelance business and struggling to bring his tortured
literary efforts to the light of publication. (A little bit of progress
there -- hopefully, more to report soon.)
The high point of our year was last July's family foray into the
mountains
of North Carolina, where the four of us stayed in a delightful
bed-and-breakfast called The Herren House, located in Waynesville. We
toured Ashville's famous Biltmore Estate, and Judy took the opportunity
to
capture some of the Great Smokey Mountains' stunning waterfalls.
On the way home, we stopped over in Cincinnati, where son and daughter
attended the wedding of a pal from Judy's stage-managing days at the Barn
Theater and we had a wonderful visit with dear friends, John and
Christina
Kline. An enjoyable performance by the Cincinnati Symphony and a quick
visit to the Air Force Museum in Dayton rounded out our tour.
A degree in music...some photographs...a little belly dancing...family
vacations...old friends-not a bad way to end an era. But endings always
signal beginnings. And as the new millennium gets underway, please know
that you are in our prayers. May all your Christmases be merry, in this
and every millenium!
The Koshelnyks
This is the WRTI Old Gang Web Site