Hargrove 1987 Christmas Letter
December 28, 1987

This is the tenth year for these letters. It’s amazing how much has happened in that time and how little seems to have happened this year. Just like the Austin economy, we seem to be muddling thru, working more and playing less, and checking the gray hairs now and then. (Know any good low cholesterol recipes?)

It’s hard to believe that when this all started Jimmy Carter was President, the Dow-Jones average was about 800, the budget deficit was about $15 billion, Claire was in Kindergarten, and the only people who had Personal Computers had built them themselves. Truly, we live in interesting times.

Jim:

Synopsis of the year:            Got his wish and is now working from home. After a few consulting contracts early in the year, he devoted full time to working on a program for the PC market. Between July 5, and his [censored] birthday he spewed out an impressive 20,000 lines of code in “C”, his current favorite language. The program searches text files blindingly fast. He is now contending with the latest people (Linda and his father) in a long line of managers who have pushed him to market before the program is ready: “It just needs a few more tweaks,” he claims.

Meanwhile, Jim has taken on some of the household chores, such as cooking dinner. All the UPS drivers know him by first name and know where to drop off undeliverable packages for the neighbors. All in all, a good trade.

Linda:

Synopsis of the year:            Changed from treating patients with chronic pain to treating adolescents who have addictive diseases. She is slowly recovering from her own separation anxiety caused by the loss of her oldest to college.

Hobbies, in addition to birdwatching, continue to include photography, where she is getting serious. “Getting serious” means taking the camera off automatic and attending some classes. Jim and Pepper have volunteered to serve as subjects. Highlight of the year: a trip to Big Bend at Thanksgiving for birding, hiking, and photos.

Charles:

Synopsis of the year:            Completed his high school career, summed up by  his guidance counselor as, “Charles is what we all wish we could be: smart and laid back!” He squeaked into the top 10% of the class and got a National Merit Scholarship with few discernable study habits. He is carrying on the family tradition at Rice, where he has the distinc­tion of being the first member of the fourth generation of Hargroves to attend.

About January sometime Charles had his last haircut of the year. He now has shoulder length golden tresses that the girls envy and his grandparents stew over. If you are lucky enough to see the Rice Marching Owl Band [The MOB] in action, look for a trumpet player with curls peeking out from under his hat.

Claire:

Synopsis of the year:            Doesn’t like high school, but has agreed to pretend it’s OK. Is tak­ing three honors courses, swimming on the varsity team, and learning to mumble when talking to Jim. Her main goal in life is to get older. She is about to set a modern record for length of time spent in orthodontics due to some teeth that are reluctant to grow.

Last summer, Claire visited Spain for a month, spending most of the time with a Spanish family. The hard part of the trip must have been coming home, because she immediately began planning for a return visit. She’s thinking about a career in foreign service, or some­thing else involving travel.

As soon as Charles began to let his hair grow, Claire decided it was time to cut hers short. She is now searching for a hair style that captures the real Claire. The hair stylist was so taken with the prospect that she had Claire pose for an ad photo.

So-called lower life forms:

It may be true that pets start to resemble their owners, or vice-versa. 75% of the animals that consent to live with us are slightly overweight and getting along in years. Pepper has devel­oped back trouble (sound familiar?) and needs to lose 3 pounds. That’s equivalent to 20-25 for one of us. She’s having trouble sticking to her diet. (Sound familiar?)

Best wishes to all of you from all of us. Please let us hear from you or see you in 1988.

Love,            The Hargroves