With lots of love and best wishes for 2002,

11 Church Street

Ilkeston

Derbyshire, DE7 8QS

Tel: 0115 877 6846

January 19, 2002

 

Dear Friends

 

Happy New Year 2002! Thank you for the cards, letters and e-mails. It’s still good to keep in touch, even if we are so slow in replying! Please note our new address above.

 

2001 will be probably be remembered by one date: Sept. 11th. We are all still suffering the consequences of those terrible events, in one way or other. Even if we didn’t lose a loved one personally, many of us knew people who did, or perhaps had narrowly escaped disaster. Either way, we were all deeply disturbed as we watched a tragedy unfold before our eyes. Only God knows what lies ahead. Once again we must cling to the knowledge that our times are in His hands.

 

That fateful Tuesday overshadowed what would otherwise have been some good news. I was offered work at Nottingham Trent University in the Language Resource Centre at Clifton Campus. After graduating in July I decided to spend the summer break ‘chilling out’ with the family, (in Britain one literally ‘chills out’ in the summer!). We went to Ireland for a week to visit John & Agnes O’Regan, and then on to Scotland to stay with the Pringles. Once the children returned to school at the beginning of September, I began to look for work. Within days came the phone call from Trent. So far I love it there, and I’m hoping a more permanent position will come up soon (as yet I only have a temporary contract).

 

Bob’s work situation has slightly changed too. He is now on the regular payroll of The King’s School as the Spanish teacher, having increased his teaching hours there. This has meant he has dropped teaching evening classes, something I was keen to see happen, giving him more time at home. However, he is still busy with his studies and halfway through the diploma in teaching English.

 

James and Joanna are both well and continually growing. James is now much taller than I am and almost as tall as Bob. He turned 15 in October and has begun his GCSE courses. He still wants to be a palaeontologist (his childhood dream) so we are now looking into the route he should take; (Montana is the state for dinosaurs – so watch out Jack & Sue, here we come!).

 

Joanna will be 8 at the end of this month and is quite a character. If she’s not singing, dancing, talking or drawing, then she’s probably sucking her thumb and twiddling daddy’s ear! She loves music, and we’d like her to take piano lessons soon. Her ambitions are quite varied, ranging from being a teacher, a hairdresser or a pop singer! Thankfully any significant career choices lie much further ahead in the future.

 

Our biggest news is that we have moved house. We still live in Ilkeston but have moved about a mile away from our last house in Charlotte Street. The new house is very nice with a much bigger garden. We have an apple tree that shows potential for a tree house, and a patio for a potential barbecue area (not that we’re particularly good at BBQs – ask Robert & Miriam, who dropped in for a quick visit last summer!).

 

 

Bob, Julie, James & Joanna Dale