2010 Christmas Letter

For those of you who didn't receive our letter in the mail (I probably don't have your address), or for those of you would like to re-read our yearly letter, here it is.

Knight 2010 Christmas Letter

“DONG. DONG. DONG. DONG. DONG. DONG.” A deep bell sound rolls down from the chapel, through Cadet area, across The Plain, moves to the Hudson, and disappears with a hint of sadness hanging in the air. Then in unison but monotone and dreary, “Six bells and all is well. Another week shot to hell. Another week in my little grey cell. Another week in which to excel. Oh hell.” In the old days, my plebe year at West Point (1997), we had formation every Sunday evening at 6 O’clock and if you weren’t in formation by the time the bells chimed you were late. The plebes marked another week down with this recitation. And now I mark another year down with this. I wish I had exciting stories to tell, or life lessons to reflect on, or humiliating experiences; I don’t. I have the daily drudge that is life with three children (from here forward to be referred to as “little monsters”). “DONG.” I started off the year leaving my wife to battle the little monsters while I spent the month in Houston on a pediatric rotation. With an odd schedule she was left doing the traveling and drove multiple times out to visit. This adventure consisted of convincing the girls that their room in the 1 bedroom apartment was the walk in closet. They each created their “beds” on the ground and loved it. At least we got to see some of the sites – I went to San Jacinto and we all hit up the Space Center and the natural history museum – otherwise known as an infomercial for “Big Oil” as it teaches all about the oil business and how great/clean it is. “DONG.” After a month home I again packed up and left Kristin with the little monsters for a pediatric rotation in Cincinnati. Being the longest time I’ve been in Cincy since moving away in 1997 I took full advantage. I got to catch up with family and friends and even made a guest appearance at a UC residency function. Joy (my best friend’s wife) is probably about now no longer sick of me. The highlight was Kristin and the little monsters coming to visit – Lizzy rode uncle Austin’s motorcycle with training wheels, Ava drove a Powerwheels Jeep endlessly, and CJ was in heaven with a real farm tractor. “DONG.” After briefly being a family again Kristin said her “Good-byes”, took off for Estonia for a month with the Marine Corps Reserves, and left me with the little monsters. It was fantastic. Kristin got to be a Marine again and I got to create two daddy’s girls and one daddy’s boy. “DONG.” I started as Chief Resident in June and this dominated my time through October. If I wasn’t working, I was working. We took some time to explore some of Texas by going through the state parks and hitting up the Hill Country. In October little CJ (barely 2½) completed a 6 mile hike through one of the parks. He may have whined, he may have tried to refuse, and he certainly needed bribing with food every ¼ mile but he made it and impressed me. Lizzy essentially ran the 6 miles and asked for more. We also found out that we would be welcoming a 4th to our crowd of little monsters - a brother for CJ. “DONG.” The fall was marked by Lizzy starting true Kindergarten at the local elementary school and Ava having to cope with the loss of Lizzy and her 1 friend going to different schools. This forced Ava to make friends and be sociable. Lizzy learned to ride a bike, is doing great with reading, and impresses the world with her fashion sense (yes, cowboy boots go with everything). “DONG.” The end of the year has ended with a flurry of activity after an overall boring year. It started with a rejection after a job interview. I’m pretty good at it by now – I applied to 7 medical schools and decorated my wall at West Point with 6 rejection letters. I love the standard lines – yadda, yadda, we chose to go with someone else, but please be ready in case something doesn’t work out because we’d still love to have you in the unit. In other words, you were, at best, second best and we are hoping everything works out so that we’re not stuck with you. My second interview went well enough and I accepted a position working at Ft. Bragg, NC. So, we are headed back to where everything started for us 10 years ago (it was 10 years ago that we found out I was going to Ft. Bragg and Kristin to Camp Lejeune). Immediately after getting back from my interview we flew out to Sedona, AZ for vacation with Kristin’s family. Opa (Kristin’s grandfather) celebrated #88 and we put some miles on the little monsters’ shoes. This included 1 mile into the Grand Canyon (and back – once again much whining by CJ) and many other trails. Now we’re back to the dredge and hoping the grey period doesn’t set in. As usual, we hope this finds everyone well. Maybe next year I can produce something humorous and entertaining for your bathroom reading pleasure. Until then, we hope to cross paths. Do you hear it? That’s the sound of the wind whisking the bells away down the Hudson.