Its My Life!: Christmas Newsletter 2020

This year we are going in ACTUAL order of birth... LOL. Gotta change it up once in a while, and after the year we've had, we need a little change in our lives!

So from our family to yours, with very little reference to the COVID-19 elephant in the room, here's a snapshot of 2020 in the Fowle universe:

Barbara & Darryl have had a very quiet year. The pandemic canceled the choir and choral groups that Barb sings with back in March, so the upstairs apartment has been an industrious center of reading, scrapbooking, card-making, movie watching, music, and other sorts of retirement activity! And trips downstairs for snacks! :) Not much venturing out has happened since March, but everyone is healthy.

Mark & Lynanne — Both our jobs moved to remote work in March, so now we commute to our home office every morning! The pandemic has given us time for gardening and some home projects, and Lynanne’s Rotary Club has been active helping in the community during the pandemic. We’ve managed to stay healthy despite a couple of scares, but we are anxious for this to be over!

Serena & Charlie are still in Houston. Serena still leads a team at Alliant Group and Charlie does freelance web design and plays poker professionally. Tyrell (we still call him “Baby Ty”) is now 2.5 and loves cars and the zoo! We are looking forward to him becoming a Hedgepeth in 2021 (the way is clear, but the courts have been affected by the pandemic so it's a slow process)! Serena has become quite the Instagram food connoisseur—check her out at serena.hedgepeth!

Cassie & Cole became homeowners in April 2020, purchasing a wonderful home just down the street from us! If it weren’t for the pesky pandemic, we would see a LOT more of them! Jaxson and Gracie are handling masks and school like champs as they navigate 2nd grade and kindergarten, respectively. Cassie still works at Cisco and Cole still manages a pest control team. Cassie has done an amazing job working full-time and managing virtual school with the kids this year!

Sam currently works two jobs—his main gig with U.S. Tobacco driving a forklift, and his side hustle opening for the local Dunkin Donuts. Sam lost his beloved Poo this year to a urinary blockage, which has rocked his world a bit, but he often joins us on the weekends to watch Star Trek or the Mandalorian.

Danny recently celebrated his two-year anniversary as a permanent DELL employee. His job is rewarding and the overtime really has had a positive impact on his bottom line as he digs out from several years of having to work two jobs to make ends meet. He has paid off his car and credit card, bought a bed, a TV, and a game system. His part-time cooking gig at Ruby Tuesday ended when the restaurant closed, but he is enjoying “adulting!”

Kennedy completed her coursework for her bachelor’s in social work at NC State in May, completed her field experience in July, and started her master's degree (MSW) in August! She lost all three jobs (work study, nannying & catering) when COVID hit, but began delivering food for PostMates to keep afloat. When she finished her degree, she secured a job with Easter Seals that doubles as her field experience for her masters program (she has 3-4 clients/week), and between the two jobs she has been able to make ends almost meet. Even with all that, she managed a 3.89 GPA in her first semester of grad school! We celebrated her NCSU graduation virtually in our living room on Dec. 4th.