The Neff Family New Year Letter 2009 - Kirsten | Learn English at EnglishCafe

We Neffs have been given more than our fair share of blessings.  As, well, maturity sets in it can become difficult to just kick back and enjoy.  There is a lot to worry about on the planet these days, a lot that needs fixing.  For my part, I’ve become convinced I can secure all things wonderful, and aim to do so.  I’d also better get busy and diminish evil.  The pressure is on.  The books say it’s just a phase, which I’m glad to hear.  

Sam continues his work to give people around the world opportunity through English education.  Take a look around this site if you have a chance .  There are some wonderful things happening on Englishcafe, people from more than 150 countries (so far) sharing thoughts, photos, culture.  His international team is incredibly talented, and based on the middle of the night phone conversations,  I can vouch that they are in communication nearly 24 hours a day.  He commutes to the city some, but works in his home office often and can be found doing dishes most evenings.  We humans, it turns out, have an adaptive mechanism that allows us to believe that our given life circumstances are, in fact, the best suited life circumstances.  Sam has been known to mumble “I actually enjoy doing the dishes” as he scrubs.

I have been writing (poetry, children’s pieces) and riding (my mountain bike) whenever I can.  My time and capacity to focus rarely match up with my optimistic daily goals, but that stuff remains outside of my role as wife and mother, which are the best things I’ve got going.  In my amateur study of happiness I have discovered that commitment to others is deeply pleasing.

Finally, the Neff children.  I could write a long string of paragraphs about science camp and lacrosse and math and mandolin and violin and theatre and community service and… I bet you can fill in the gaps.  Here are the things that a list wouldn’t tell you:

Teya is in seventh grade and has put herself on the line this fall, standing up for acquaintances at school.  At 12 she is nearly my height and gaining ground, apparently fortified by her acts of courage.

Last spring Jensen found herself at the bottom of the barrel in travel soccer, having lost her athletic mojo.  She got mad.  She cried.  She hated soccer and said she was going to quit.  She didn’t quit.  I quote her on a ride home from a recent practice:  “Whoever invented this game is a genius.”

A.J. (who now prefers Arden approximately ½ of the time) has learned to take responsibility for his mistakes.  He even seems to enjoy taking responsibility for his mistakes…sometimes maybe a little too much.  “My fault, won’t happen again”, he shoots off, and I find myself uncharacteristically mute.  

They are all three revealing themselves to us.  Needless to say, Sam and I are amazed by the way their minds and bodies unfold.   

As I type and think about these words and their meaning transforming into binary symbols, then invisible messages traveling across states, around the globe, it’s hard not to feel grateful for the technology.  How did we suddenly arrive in a world where I can tap away in my funny little niche in Novato to create words that magically let all of you know - and hopefully feel -  that you live in our hearts and minds every day?  You, our family and friends, mean so much to us, and we wish you peace and joy in 2009.

Love, Kirsten, Sam, Teya, Jensen and Arden