Dear Family and Friends,

Once again another year has passed by and it is time to write my annual Christmas letter, a letter intended to bring you all up to date on what has happened in the past year. It seems the time between writing these annual letters is getting shorter and shorter ... must be 'cuz I'm getting older and older!

January was a very normal January here in Victoria. It would rain for three days and then be sunny for a few, then rain again. It was a trick to know whether you were putting the suntan oil on to prevent sunburn or rusting but it all seemed to work out in the end. I still enjoy travelling around the city on the bus and did a lot of that. Victoria is so amazing, even in the winter. Every year they have an annual bloom count here in the latter part of February and it seems the numbers go higher and higher every year. This year the count was well over five million. I am still in search of the best cup of coffee in the city and I definitely have some contenders. (Come and visit me and I will take you to all the places they are served).

Spring(which unofficially starts in February, by the way) here on the Island started out all right but it soon turned to an almost disaster. On June 10, I went into the hospital with a very serious infection which required immediate surgery to remove the infected areas and then a skin graft three weeks later to cover the wound. I spent forty days in isolation in the Royal Jubilee Hospital, a lot of them record setters as far as temperature goes, which made the stay rather uncomfortable on the best of days. It was so good to leave the hospital and come home although it did take me some time to build the strength up in my legs and get back to a semblance of normal. The damage is almost completey healed and I am sure hoping I never have to go through that again. If I have nine lives, like a cat, I definitely used up one of them with this episode.

On August 6th, Mom and I boarded a plane to head for Calgary. We were picked up at the airport by my "sorta sister-in-law", Lois Anson (Gerry's partner), and later that day we all drove to Rocky Mountain House where I was going to stay a few days with my cousin, Lois Rasmussen, and then attend the family reunion at Wilderness Village, just west of Rocky. I enjoyed the days with Lois R. and her friend Toni ... they were very relaxing and it was good to be back In Alberta, even if it was just for a visit. Lois and Toni live in a quiet trailer park outside of Rocky and it is truly peaceful there. Lois has a lovely home and I did enjoy my stay. I was also able to spend days at Wilderness Village where Mom, Lois A., and Lois's mom, were camping. Gerry arrived on Wednesday and the time was spent getting ready for the reunion. I really have to say that my younger brother, and Lois too, were a great host and hostess and looked after me very well as did Joy, Lois's mom.

The Wilson - LeGrange Reunion 2004 was a great success. We had really good weather (except for a Sunday night thunderstorm), there was lots to do, lots of food, and lots of family to visit with. The first personal high for me was to have Herb LeGrange there. Herb was the first of the LeGranges that I was able to contact four years ago when I was trying to reunite the family. He missed the 2002 reunion but he did make it to this one and it was a pleasure to meet him again after 37 years. It was also a pleasure to have the other members of the LeGrange family there as well and I appreciated there efforts in making it to the reunion.

The second personal high was that Ken and Shirly Hansen were able to attend. They drove out from the Island and it was great to see them as I hadn't seen them for quite awhile. There son, Larry, and Larry's daughter, Lea, attended as well which was also a nice surprise. I thought it quite amusing that my cousin Larry, who probably lives only ten miles or so from me, had to meet me in Alberta for a visit. Of course, it was nice to see the Wilson side of the family, too, as it had been a while since I had seen any of them. I always enjoy visiting with them and finding out all the news that is fit to hear (and some that isn't!) Of course the ultimate high was to play against my brother Gerry in the finals of the crib tournament. A last hand rally made Gerry the winner but it was even fun to come in second. Gerry also placed first in the "Great Chili Cookoff Contest". I, teamed with my cousin Lois who supplied the ingredients and the recipe, placed second (I did the actual cooking and serving).

The fall months were spent at home here in Esquimalt. My activities in and around the city were curtailed a little as I was still recovering from the surgery I had and, as much as I hate to admit it, I wasn't nearly as strong as I thought I was. I made an effort to get out every day ... sometimes it was just to the neighborhood mall to do some shopping and other times it was to the other businesses in the neighborhood or just over to the park. The weather this fall was nice and warm and dry and the colors were spectacular -- the best I have seen in all the years I have been living in Esquimalt and it made getting out pleasurable.

I am looking forward to spending Christmas at Mom's again this year. Cathy and her kids will be there again and the two little kids are so much fun at Christmas. I don't see them nearly often enough as I should and it takes quite a bit of time to get caught up with all the news they have to tell me. I hope to take them out for some sort of outing while I am there. Of course I am looking forward to lots of turkey and all the trimmings on Christmas Day and nobody makes a better Christmas dinner than my Mom ... even the leftovers are very delicious.

Anyway, once again, that is the "year in review". There were some definite lows and some definite highs and everything in between. My health is improving daily and I am certainly looking forward to the Christmas and the New Year.

I wish each and every one of you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous 2005 and may the spirit of the season be with you. Anytime you are going to be in the neighborhood give me a call and I will meet you somewhere, even if it is just long enough to say hello and have a coffee with you. I always look forward to a visit from my family and friends.