Dozier Family Letter- 2008

Silence

O earth, be silent.
Cease your din. Listen. Hear! 'Tis
the cry of a Babe.



Dozier Family
Christmas Letter 2008

On October 24, 2008, my Dad (Gordon Dozier, Sr. known as "Dyda") passed away in the manner in which he lived: quietly, peacefully and surrounded by loving family. A few months before he died, I asked him if he had any regrets during his 93 years of life. He said, "I've had a wonderful life. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't change a thing. I have no regrets." Would that we could all say the same.

Gordon and Eva: In August, Eva and I moved to our new home at 15 Village by the Lake, So. Pines, NC 28387. Eva is still in Infection Control at Scotland Memorial Hospital and I am still p/t parish bookkeeper. VBL is a retirement community. No noise allowed. That means no "motorcycles." However, they gave me a dispensation as long as I keep mine out of sight! I enjoy blogging. Check mine out at Dad2eight.blogspot.com . Eva's hobby is spoiling her grandchildren. She takes off every Friday so that she can spend time with them.

Gordon, III and Karen (Daniel, Alex and Katie): Gordon's family moved to Pinehurst last spring and is renting our former home. The Hartford allows him to work from home. He was ordained to the diaconate in the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church last June. He serves at his parish in Raleigh, and is holding Typica services (Communion service) at a chapel he made in his home. Karen is teaching Pre-K at the parish school, JPII Catholic School. Daniel is home schooled and works at Chick-fil-A, Alex is at Pinehurst High School and works p/t at the Gulley Gdn. Cntr. and Katie is at JPII School.

Kristi and Jonathan Bernstein (Jack and Eva): Kristi is working in fund raising for the YMCA in Dallas. Jon is still at American Airlines. Jack is in Kindergarten. Little Eva had a large neuroblastoma tumor removed in February. In October a recurrence necessitated 4 rounds of chemo. The tumor has shrunk by 95%!! She is such a trooper and never let this slow her down. Please pray for Little Eva. You can follow Kristi's adventures as wife and mother at her blog: goodnightmom.blogspot.com

Jonathan: (Jonathan and Jacob): Jay has had his final interview in Atlanta with Chick-fil-A. It is likely he will be getting his own store in the spring. At present we do not know where that will be, but he is getting his home ready to sell. His fiancé, Boo Yung, just got her BSN from UNC-G and will be visiting her family in Korea for a few months while Jay finds out where he will be located. His two boys will be visiting for Christmas. Jonathan (15) will now be living with Jay.

Angel and Graham Gulley (Hannah, Claire, Davis): The great news for Angel and Graham is that they are expecting #4 in June. They have chosen to be surprised about the sex of the child until delivery. Graham runs marathons. Angels runs mini-marathons, works part-time at the Gulley Garden Center and seems to run unending carpools. Hannah and Claire are at JPII School and Davis runs the house.

Benjamin (Loralei) Ben is in the nursing program at Sandhills Community College. He has about 18 months left and is living with us while he is a student. His great sadness is that his daughter lives in Indiana. His hobby is collecting DVD's, which he lends to all of the family. His collection is so extensive that we say we are going to get a DVD from "Benbuster."

Nathaniel and Vanessa: Nathaniel and Vanessa are living in Greensboro. He blogs occasionally at quidquidlatinedictumsitaltumviditur.blogspot.com (As he notes, anything in Latin sounds intelligent.) He is working at the Double Tree Hotel as the night auditor. He and Vanessa are expecting the arrival of little James Nathan Dozier at any moment.

John-Paul: JP is a student at UNC-Asheville. Uncharacteristically for a Dozier, he is a Math Major. He wants to be a teacher and I think he would make a good one. His hobbies include computer gaming and war gaming as part of the UNC-A Air soft team. This evidently is a big thing and his team has won several events.

Mary B: MB is in her second year at UNC-Greensboro. She is in the Hospitality Management program. Mary wants to go into the Air Force and is working to that end. MB just turned 21. As one of her siblings observed, she can now do legally what she has been doing anyway since she was 16. Her Christmas break will be spent in Boston, at home and then…London (as in England.)

This is the Christmas that all of the kids try to come home. So far it looks like that is what will happen. This means much laughter, stories that begin, "Hey, Dad…remember when …?" and the wonderful chaos that is family. God Bless.
The Doziers