Nelson Mandela’s passing this year had a profound impact on us. Both Dylan and Adela are old enough to remember visiting Robben Island and experiencing some of the South Africa that Mandela struggled to create. And we often find ourselves talking about his achievements as examples of how to live our own lives. So it seems fitting to put our updates this year in the context of the values of Mandela that we seek to emulate.
For Adela, we think of the value of determination. Remember, this is the girl who once told us, “I want what I want because I want it.” She’s a grown-up 8-year old now, but the steely drive remains. It showed up in her serious preparation for evaluations as an SF Girls Chorus member, earning her promotion to Level 2 and a front row spot in the line up. At winter concerts in St. Mark’s Church and Davies Hall, she was radiant, and her vocal talent continues to grow under the tutelage of the SFGC staff and Amy Foote. It showed up in weekly science lessons with Exploratorium “explainer” Rose Johnson-Leiva. Adela returned from dissecting cow eyes or building DNA strands with a quiet confidence and surety about her future as a scientist. It showed up in her artwork being selected for display at the Asian Art Museum in the SF Youth Arts Festival. And it showed up in her choice of Halloween costume, Eowyn from The Lord of the Rings (who sneaks away from her appointed life in the King’s court to join the battle against Mordor); since we bought her a bow for the costume, she often heads up to the park on her own to fire arrows into the air. Adela has blossomed as a reader, a scientist, a singer, and an archer and we know that, with her, anything is possible. As Mandela said, “It always seems impossible until it is done.”
For Dylan, who turned 10 this year, we think of the value of leadership. Whether on the soccer field, in the classroom, or in casual play, Dylan is a natural leader. His positivity is infectious and wins him friends young and old. In the winter, he joined his dad for the Great Ski Race (a 30km trek from the shores of Lake Tahoe to Truckee) and kept up a great spirit all the way to the finish line despite tough snow conditions. This summer, he came home from sleep-away camp at UC Berkeley with a real Cal uniform (apologies to Cardinal fans in the crowd) as a prize for being the MVP. In the fall, he was invited to perform capoeira at City Hall during the Hispanic Heritage Awards Celebration. And this winter, he put in a star performance in a hip-hop number in the school dance concert, while making everyone around him shine. Asked to serve others, he jumped at the chance to pack meals at the San Francisco Food Bank. Moving into double digits, Dylan has become more independent this year, walking and biking himself to school and soccer practice (no small feat in a big city). We have enjoyed watching him continue to excel as a soccer player (including two tournament finals for his team), a mathematician, a musician and a dancer.
For Jeannette and Matt, we are inspired by Mandela’s deep commitment to social justice and we are reminded by him that “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Jeannette began her third year as the Director of Practice at the Education Trust-West, a non-profit education advocacy organization based in Oakland striving to ensure all California’s public schoolchildren have equitable access to a high quality education. Besides working, Jeannette continued her cycling (with stunning rides in Tahoe and the Bay Area), reconnected with activities she’d almost forgotten she knew how to do (she strapped on her 20-year-old roller blades to skate with Adela and borrowed a sewing machine to make Halloween costumes), and spent treasured time with family and friends both near and far.
Matt continued his work at New Leaders, an organization that develops transformational school leaders and advances the policies and practices that allow great leaders to succeed. He has enjoyed helping state and district leaders in Connecticut, Delaware, Indiana, Tennessee and Minnesota, but is still hopeful of generating more interest in New Leaders’ work in states closer to home! In addition to work, teaching at Stanford, and continued consulting and volunteering on boards, Matt accomplished a few personal goals, including skiing the Great Ski Race, running the SF Half Marathon, re-joining a soccer club, and (after 30-odd years off) taking up piano again. Since starting the latter in the fall, he was the only family member who practiced as much as he was supposed to.
The year brought five numbers to celebrate:
1 – the age of our goddaughter Karla Abigail, who brings joy to everyone she meets
4 – the number of months Peter and Gabby have been parents to the adorable Felix Hebert
18 – the number of years Jeannette’s uncle Tom & Mona were together before getting wed this summer in beautiful Olympia, WA
50 – the years Matt’s parents have been married, a milestone celebrated with a banner family and friends gathering at Michele and Benoit’s country home in Linden, VA
99 – the age attained by Dottie Kelemen, who continues to amaze us with her stamina and strength; we hope to celebrate 100 with her in July
Beyond our work travels, we stayed closer to home than usual this year. Family brought us East in the summer (Bethany and Linden) and winter (DC and Baltimore). We took our first family backpacking trip in the Sierras, summiting Mt. Lola above 9,000 feet and enjoying campfire-cooked pancakes. In the fall, Jeannette treated Adela to a New York City birthday extravaganza celebrating Claire (7), Cole (5) and Grandma (young as ever) too. And Thanksgiving took us to San Diego with the LaFors clan where we enjoyed the sun, amusements and time together. We saw out 2013 in Tahoe with a fantastic Seedlings book club reunion, reveling in the awesome beauty of the Sierras even if the snow disappointed.
As the new year begins, we look forward to the Brazil World Cup (reminded that bringing the Cup to South Africa was one of Nelson Mandela’s lesser, but still important, accomplishments). And this is the year when we begin planning in earnest for a two-year stint living in a Spanish-speaking country. If anyone has leads on jobs at international schools (for Jeannette), education consulting gigs (for Matt), soccer academies (for Dylan), or youth theater opportunities (for Adela), we’ll take them.
Peace to you and yours,
Jeannette, Matt, Dylan & Adela