cleve callison’s blog

Adapted from our annual Christmas letter:

Last night we celebrated our daughter Mary’s birthday. It was a surprise party organized by some of her friends. Unfortunately, a birthday near Christmas sometimes can get lost in the shuffle — but not this one. A good way to approach the end of the year.

Okay, so it wasn’t the best year we’ve seen. The bad news is that a tree fell on our house in April. Oh, wait, that was the good news.

Actually, “a tree fell on our house” is a pretty good metaphor for the year. Miami University decided to end local operation of WMUB, and the last day for the staff was June 30th. Cleve will teach a couple of courses at Miami-Hamilton starting in January, and has also been working on some research and writing projects (yes, Virginia, there really is a ‘theCallisongroup.com’). Despite this teensy setback, Jenny and Cleve made it to their annual outing with friends in Pisgah National Forest.

Jenny has had an interesting year. Miami’s Farmer School of Business moved into its new headquarters, a LEED-certified building that’s really spectacular. There’s been much to do all year, especially this fall. She’s active in the Wyoming JWC (“Any club that invites me and has ‘Junior’ in the title,” she notes, “is a good club.”) She’s also continuing to write for the Cincinnati Enquirer, concentrating mostly on stories about home remodelings and makeovers. We don’t recommend having a tree fall on your house to jump-start this process.

It’s been a year of transition for Mary. After graduating from Miami last December, she worked here in Cincinnati in a variety of jobs. She worked at a bar/restaurant at the top of Mt. Adams (great city views), worked for the Census in Ohio and West Virginia, and for an upscale lifestyle store. But the big news is that she’ll start graduate school in business in Texas beginning in January, right after her birthday.

John is a ‘first-year senior’ at the University of South Carolina. He’ll graduate next December, thus giving Steve Spurrier one more year to get the football team up to speed; in the meantime, he’s busy with his singing. He had his Junior Recital in February and was in Our Town (the Ned Rorem opera) in the spring. He had the lead in the East Side Players’ summer production of Bye Bye Birdie. And this fall he had the male lead in the USC production of The Light in the Piazza.

In times like these, the support of family and friends is even more precious. May your carbon footprint be reduced in 2010!