December 2002

Dear Family and Friends,

It has truly been the most amazing and joyous year in the Duffy-Balón house. Emma Rose could not be a more wonderful addition to our family.

With the arrival of Emma, we have had lots of visitors, mostly family, anxious to meet the first grandchild on both sides. In May, many family members and good friends gathered for Emma’s Christening. Emma wore a Christening dress worn by Arline and her mother. Emma is blessed to have wonderful godparents in Adrian “Pee Wee” Villanueva, Dan’s second cousin in California, and Marianne Zwicklbauer, Arline’s longtime friend from college who now lives in nearby Virginia.

We, too, have done our fair share of traveling. Emma had her first plane ride during our May trip to California, where she met many, many relatives including her great-grandfather, Bill Kelly. She also can say that she handled the 11-hour car ride to the Champlain Islands in Vermont for the July 4th holiday better than her parents did. She liked it so much that she and Arline made it back for two other (plane) trips. Dwarfed by an Emma-sized life jacket, Emma even got a ride in her grandfather’s new boat, named in her honor! She’s a natural water baby.

We made a truly good family decision in the Spring. After two years of balancing working full-time and plugging away at the Ph.D. in Education Policy and Leadership at the University of Maryland, College Park (Go NCAA Champion Terps!), we decided that Dan would return to the doctoral program full-time. He now works on campus part-time in the Office of Human Relations Programs conducting diversity evaluation and assessment and teaching around intergroup dialogue and leadership development—really engaging and purposeful work, he has discovered. If all goes to plan, “Dr. Dan” will be done with his Ph.D. in 2004. Arline continues to juggle campus construction politics, residence halls, and student activities at The George Washington University, now in her sixth year there, and fourth year in her current role as Director of the Student Development Center at the Mount Vernon Campus.

For Emma Rose and our family, this has been the best decision we could ever make. Emma and Daddy spend two days each week at home together. The other three days, Emma goes to a wonderful day care provider, a nurturing, family-oriented woman who is conveniently near our home and likes to share foods from “back home” on a regular basis. And, the other kids love her there. No doubt that she loves it there, too—Emma doesn’t like to leave and let’s us know it all the way back to the house!

Dan also had one of those “priceless MasterCard” experiences by going to the World Series and cheering on his beloved San Francisco Giants to battle some team from Southern California. No setting could be better for the Fall Classic than the charming Pac Bell Park, for the communal atmosphere was just unbelievable. The most special part, however, was spending time with his dad, with whom he watched the Giants clinch their last pennant in 1989 at old Candlestick Park. We hope we don’t have to wait another 13 years!

As the year comes to a close, we have had many celebrations. Dan’s parents, sisters, and brother-in-law all joined us for Thanksgiving. We also began Emma Rose’s many birthday celebrations that have continued well into December. As snow fell here in an early winter storm, we await the arrival of Arline’s parents and Santa Claus himself, of course. It’s going to be a magical Christmas.

We hope that your holiday season is wonderful, too. Many blessings to you!

Much love,