Christmas 2013

The Truscotts Wish You a Happy, Healthy 2014!! (Holiday Letter 2013)

Cheryl and I have been in this house for thirty years – nearly half our lives. Kids have come and gone, along with dogs, cats, and other pets. But we’re still here, along with the cedar, fir and hemlock trees which surround us. It’s way too big – we’re starting to rattle around in it – but the pull of the quiet woods all around has so far been stronger than any centrifugal force to spin us out.

This year, Cheryl undertook an online midwifery “refresher course” out of Philadelphia University. Almost every day in 2013, for 6-10 hours a day, she was either reading, writing, or doing midwifery. She started with a goal to be more “relevant” when she visits impoverished sites to further her life long project of photographing mothers with new babies. When she returns to Haiti in March, as a currently certified midwife, she hopes to contribute wisdom and practical advice, as well as document the growing Midwives for Haiti educational programs.

Her pictures have appeared literally all over the country. Her photo show of inmate moms with their kids – Protective Custody – appeared in a brew pub in Seattle’s SoDo district, and at a midwifery convention in Oregon. Her photos from Haiti not only illustrate their website and brochures, but also feature in the annual calendar they distribute. And she just finished another calendar for the abuse intervention clinic where she used to work.

Our kids are all still congregated in Seattle, a short walk from downtown in Capital Hill (girls) and Pioneer Square (guy). Cody is determined to improve the world while taking advantage of the Affordable Care Act by designing a better mousetrap for infection testing and treatment. Shaine is helping lead the charge in Washington and nationwide to legislate a meaningful living wage. If you read about “$15/hour minimum wage effort”, chances are, she’s involved.  Annie is living the dream as a starving artist; her band Chastity Belt has been on tour much of the fourth quarter, working on its second album, and looking to scratch a trip to London. They apparently have a following in England.

My big news: I will retire this coming January. It’s time. Besides, next year may be the last time I “age up” for races. I’ll be going back to the Boston Marathon in April, to celebrate defiance with the rest of my tribe. In June and November, I’ll be doing two more Ironman races (and maybe a third in early fall). And in August, I plan to race in the national short-course championships, and gain a spot on the team for the 2015 world championship race.

Triathlon and writing are my most immediate focus; Cheryl still loves her cameras, moms and newborns. But we now have time and space opening up for us over the next few years to venture out from our hobbit hole into the big wide world. I’m thinking of going places that start with “A”, “B”, and maybe “C” as a start. If we live long enough, we might get to Zanzibar and Zimbabwe!

R.I.P. Patches 1993-2013