Christmas Letter 2007

December 9, 2007

Dear Family and Friends:

Merry Christmas! If you recall, last year I wrote my annual Christmas missive as a letter to my father who passed away in January of 2002. I was missing him and thought it would be a nice idea to make him the centerpiece of my Christmas thoughts. I ended last year’s letter with the tongue in cheek "See you soon?" never expecting to be diagnosed this year with a terminal disease! He must have been listening! Come on Dad, I was only KIDDING!

I DO think of my father every day. Since he died, I wear the Immaculate metal that he wore his whole life. The inscription on the metal says, "O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee." The metal was given to my father to protect him during WWII. Now it hangs on my chest just over the area where I have a tumor. I have to move it out of the way to receive my radiation treatments. I am thinking about my father a lot these days and look forward to seeing him again…. But I am hoping I’ll be permitted a few more years on earth to enjoy my own family before that time comes!

We started the year with high hopes and expectations. My practice as a financial advisor was healthy and growing. Jessie was finishing her last year of high school, and Paula and June were adjusting well to their new lives outside the nest.

In March Paula and long-time boyfriend Brian Mara were formally engaged to be married. The wedding is set for June 7, 2008 in Santa Monica, CA and we are looking forward to seeing many of you there. Paula is now working as a 1st grade teacher in Bakersfield, California. Brian is working as a probation officer in the same town. They seem to be very happy together and we are happy for them. Hopefully things stay that way and the run-up to the wedding will not be material for a new episode of Bridezilla! Stay tuned.

In April I learned that Smith Barney planned to close the Punta Gorda office where I was working. I took a few weeks to mull over my options and in May decided to move to Morgan Stanley in the same town. I spent a hectic summer moving most of my clients with me. Making a change like this is the proverbial one step forward and two steps backward. The change took some of the air out of the positive momentum I had building in my practice, but I was thankful to have kept the core of my business in tact. Having to make a move was a setback, but I hope to be back to where I was (asset and production wise) within the year, if not sooner. (You can see what happened to Citigroup’s stock since I left.)

Jessie graduated High School in May and spent the summer saying goodbye to old friends and getting ready for her new life as a student at Florida State. She plans to study TV production, if she can get into the very competitive program there. Over the summer Jessie served as a "Red Shirt" (councilor) at Rotary’s Seminar for Tomorrow’s Leaders. She has been asked to come back as a "White Shirt" (senior councilor) this coming year, which is quite an honor. Very few out of the hundreds of kids that participate in the program are asked to come back. We are so proud of Jessie and everything she has accomplished! She has adjusted well to life at FSU; we know because she has never complained about being homesick and did not even think about coming home to visit until November!

My transition to Morgan Stanley was complete by the end of July and we celebrated by going to California to see Paula and Brian and to meet Brian’s family, who welcomed all of us with open arms. After that we flew on to Hawaii to see daughter June and soak up some Hawaiian sun. Paula tagged along and we ended up having a family reunion on Waikiki beach. June had been working in Honolulu for Dave Erdman, a friend of mine at Pac Rim Marketing until October. After just over a year in that job she decided to change positions and is now with the marketing department of the Kahala Hotel and Resorts on Oahu. June is working hard in the new job but seems to be happy. We’re looking forward to her coming home to visit this Christmas.

We got back from Hawaii in time to take Jessie to school in mid August, after which Yoko and I became official "empty nesters." We immediately made a number of "free at last" trips – to Ft Lauderdale, New Mexico and New York City -- before learning in October that I was ill. I had been complaining about a cough for months and finally went to see my family physician. He ordered a chest x-ray and that’s when we discovered a tumor in my lung. I have had a seven-week course of chemotherapy and radiation, thankfully with little by way of adverse side effects. We are now in a waiting period to see what effect the treatment has had on the cancer. We are praying for a good outcome this Christmas. We’ll know where we stand in January and that will set the stage for 2008.

All of this, of course, has been hard on Yoko. She never complains but I worry about her. She has been a trouper throughout the year, ever the optimist that things will work out fine as they always do. Yoko continues to take care of me and our home, while working for the Japanese restaurant in town. My office at Morgan Stanley is in the same complex as the restaurant, so we are never far from each other!

One thing I have learned is that in the game of life, it is not what cards you are dealt …it is how you choose to play them. We are determined to remain optimistic use our remaining time together to live rich and fulfilling lives. I am so thankful for my family who loves and cares for me and especially for my wife, Yoko.

This Christmas I feel a little like Ebenezer Scrooge after his visit with The Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come. I too have no time to waste. So I plan to make this a very Merry Christmas and look forward to all the joyous blessings that await us in the New Year.

God bless you all for all your good wishes and prayers.

Love to all and best wishes to you for good health and happiness in 2008!

Tom and Yoko