HAPPY CHRISMAKUH FROM THE WYMANS!
Lissa, 37, and Bud, 84, in front of our new home, September, 2005 (If I can lie about one thing, I can lie about another. Actually it's Osborne House, Queen Victoria's Summer cottage on the Isle of Wight.)
Dear friends and family,
You CAN go home again. Bud and I started a new life in New York in 2005. It's not the same as it was ten years ago when we moved to Dalton, GA. It's BETTER.
We packed up the kitties Happy (14), Lovey (8) and Midnight (10) and we are all now living in a cozy (i.e., small) one bedroom apartment on Park Ave. and 36th St. It's the same apartment where our late dear friend Gail lived for 21 years. It's in easy walking distance to everything and we have several old friends in the 'hood. The place was gutted and completely refurbished with a new kitchen and bathroom before we moved in, so there is no longer any tangible evidence of Gail here. But we feel her kind spirit with us all the time.
After Bud sold The Rug Hold Co. in 2003, we moved full time to Sarasota. It was a lovely life-style, but our hearts were still in New York. We've got loads of family and friends here, as well as many colleagues in the rug business.
We put our house in Sarasota on the market in mid September and it appears that we may have sold it. We are now in contract with a buyer and the closing is set for Feb. 14, 2006. (We are eternal skeptics, however, so won't believe it until they show us the money.)
I've rented a cubicle in an office "condo" in the garment district. About 50 entrepreneurs sharing a full floor in a (slightly decrepit) building between 7th and 8th. It's a very interesting experience, and I am enjoying meeting my office mates who are all as devoted to their businesses as I am to www.Rugnews.com.
Bud continues to do a little consulting work with Leggett & Platt, the company that bought Rug Hold. But for the most part, he is easing himself into retirement. In New York, he is able to walk all over town, go to the museums and the movies while I'm zipping along with my business.
This Summer, we celebrated 35 years together (30 officially married). We treated ourselves to a trans-Atlantic crossing on the Queen Mary II. After visiting friends on the Isle of Wight for the first night, we continued on to London, where we rented a flat in Chelsea for a week. It was the ULTIMATE vacation. By the way, Bud grew that spiffy beard you see in the picture above to try to impersonate a Cunard bridge officer. He's back to his clean shaven self now.
One of Bud's projects this year was participation in a study at NYU on aging and dementia. He had to go through a battery of physical and mental tests over a couple months. You'll be happy to hear that our boy can count backwards from 100 by 7's perfectly and the doctors have pronounced him fit of mind and body. They even asked him to donate his brain to science. Honest. ( I thought that would get a good laugh out of anyone who knows and loves our Buddy-boy). Bud's son Nick has accused me of trying to sell his body parts to raise cash.
FAMILY NEWS
The Florida Wymans:
Grandpa Bud and Gaby Wyman with James and Claudia.
Lawyer son James (49), wife Claudia (thirty-something) and daughter Gaby (will be 2 in March) are all living in a one-bedroom apartment in the heart of South Beach, Miami. A new baby is expected on Dec. 30, so they are planning to move soon. The new son, by the way, will be named Santiago Wyman. (no shit)
Mike (62) and Kathy Wyman moved to a new house in Boca Raton, FL, around the corner from their former home. He is still working in the computer industry. (Did you know that the Boca area is called Silicon Beach?)
The Northern Wymans:
Family Thanksgiving at son Nick's house in Yonkers, NY: Back row: Lissa, 37; Caitlin, 24; Madeline, 19; Bud, 84.
Front row: Daughter in law Beth, 52 holding Tommy, 14; Nick, 55, and daughter Meredith, 59.
Actor son Nick, 55, was John Lithgo's standby in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels on Broadway for much of the year. He is also the voice of "Digger," the annoying toenail fungus on those lamisil commercials.
Actor son Oliver Wyman, 39, continues to do a lot of voice over work. He was the reader of Thomas Freidman's The World is Flat, among many other projects. He is also a big star of those ultra violent video games. Oliver has a wonderful new girlfriend. Emma is a lovely British girl who works at Oxford University Press.
Daughter Meredith, 59, lives in Greenwich, CT. After several years with Rockefeller University, she is now doing free-lance graphic design.
Lissa's family
Brother John, 45 and his family have moved from Gainesville, FL, to Miami. He is still in the state prison system (not as an inmate, I'm happy to say). He is now involved in training programs and other stuff I don't understand.
Mom Alice Hassett, who will be 86 in January, has moved to Salt Lake City with Brother Alan (54) and his family. (Al's wife Nancy works for the postal service and she has transferred to Salt Lake from Islamarada, FL). Everyone seems to be VERY pleased with the move.
Kitty news
Cats are so adaptable. Although I'm sure they hated giving up their pool and lanai in Florida, Happy, Lovey and Midnight are living the good life in New York. They think the entire floor of the apartment building is their personal domain and they like to make uninvited visits to the neighbors.
Lovey Wyman, the Boss
SO LONG !