Dear Friends and Family

This year’s holiday letter begins with sad news. Susan’s beloved sister, Deborah Atherton, passed away on December 10th at the age of 63. She was diagnosed with acute myoblastic leukemia (AML) in June, received chemotherapy over the summer and a stem cell transplant in October. She died of the effects of hhv6 viral encephalitis, a complication that is fatal to about 5% of patients in her situation. The family held a well-attended wake for her at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City, her favorite bar where our paternal grandparents drank with Dorothy Parker and her literary circle in the 1920s. An official celebration of her life will take place in spring 2015. Deb was a sweet and gentle soul who is already much missed by her family and friends.
 
Debbie

On the upside of 2014, Andrea and Bobby completed major artistic endeavors. They still divide their time between their house near Hudson, NY and NYC. Andrea returned to performance with the production of her new piece Screening Room: The Return of Andrea Kleine… The album for Bobby’s musical composition Terminals was released in late fall. Follow them on www.andreakleine.com, www.bobbyprevite.com, and Andrea’s the dancers will win

Hilary and Josh moved to a bigger house in a good school district last winter. Hilary started a new job in February. She is now Administrator for Donate Life Virginia, the organization that maintains the organ donor registry for the state of Virginia. Josh remains on the staff of the Virginia Commissioner for Public Health. He just returned from Hawaii where he ran an event for their business Ravenchase Adventures. Nina, now 6, entered kindergarten in September where she is learning to read. Ben, now 4, still attends pre-school and has become an expert on all things Star Wars.


Jared and Seema moved back to New York this fall. Jared graduated from Georgetown Law School in May and recently passed the NY bar exam. Seema is now enrolled in the MFA writing program at Columbia. Vishnu is 4, a sweet boy who still loves trucks and talks mile a minute. Sid, 17 months, loves books and barrels around like a kid on a mission.



Rich continues as the Senior Manager for E-Commerce at Orchard Brands and remains an active contributor to independent singer/songwriters efforts to produce new albums, continues to seek out new talent and keeps our concert calendar full at New England and sometimes NYC venues. We hosted a house concert in our living room last spring with Marina V and have had a number of performers stay with us while they are in Boston. Rich still supports the website for Marina V.

Susan and her consulting team completed their last two projects [hopefully for now] for the state of Texas in September and she will begin looking for new projects in 2015. In Boston, Susan still volunteers at the West End Museum, an emerging neighborhood museum. She is the museum’s archivist, a member of its Advisory Board and is facilitating the museum’s strategic plan. Susan traveled to Calgary, Alberta, Canada in June for the annual ALHFAM [Association for Living History, Farm and Agricultural Museums] Conference. She enjoyed the field trips into the incredible Alberta countryside.

Susan, Andrea and Hilary spent much of the last half of 2014 caring for Deb and supporting her immediate family. I am grateful to be part of such a large extended family who stepped up to help during a time of profound sadness and change.

We wish all the very best to you and yours for 2015.

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