December 2, 2018
Dallas, TX
Dear Family and Friends,
I can’t believe how fast this year went. I thought I’d take a moment and share some of what’s been happening with the Sample family.
Jackson, the easy one, is in third grade at our local public elementary school. He loves math and playing tag on the playground. He plays soccer, takes Hip-Hop class, and this summer, he started guitar lessons at a “School of Rock” type studio. And he loves playing guitar! He’ll be playing a rockin’ version of “Jingle Bells” at the Zounds Sounds Christmas concert.
Darcy, the not-as-easy-as-Jackson one, is in preschool at a local Christian school. She preaches to us regularly about the Bible. She also enjoys pointing out when her brother is sinning: “Bad decisions against God,” she says. Darcy is in her second year of dance. She does tap and ballet at the studio. But at home, she does her own special brand of contemporary…sometimes with no music at all. She also plays soccer–err, played soccer–for the Unicorns. My dad coached and earned his angel wings for his service! This month Darcy starts gymnastics (“bernastics” as she says).
In the beginning of 2018, C.K. was still working as Chief Product Officer for YouEarnedIt, a SaaS company that focuses on employee engagement and retainment. In the spring, C.K. helped sell YEI to Vista Equity Partners. Then in June, C.K. became the Chief Technology Officer at Hypergiant. He’s back working with one of his best friends and doing some really interesting stuff with machine learning. In his free time, he loves playing electronic music and now his office boasts an impressive amount of wires and circuit boards. And when C.K. isn’t dropping hot beats, he’s working on a painting with artist Tanner Lawley. We won a commission at the school auction and when Tanner came to visit us, he offered to do the commission with C.K.! I can’t wait to see the results.
As for me, I just finished doing a 12-week substitute position at Hockaday, a private K-12 all girls prep school. I taught 10th and 11th grade English; it was a great litmus test for this momma who hasn’t worked FT in awhile. I finished Stagecraft in the spring and my agent sent it to editors at several big publishing houses this fall. So I’m in the waiting-and-fingers-crossed stage of the publishing game. I also had a fictional piece come out in a literary journal back in July. In my spare time, I’m usually at the local CrossFit gym. And when I’m not at the gym, I’m boring my husband with tales of what happened at CrossFit.
I hope this letter finds you and yours healthy and happy. Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!
Love,
The Samples
C.K., Kristin, Jackson (8), Darcy (4), Thatcher the pug (12), and Misha the parrot (15)
When a person has such a sense of humor, there’s a treasure trove of stories and memories to share. Unfortunately, not many of these stories are appropriate to share with a Pastor present.
I giggled so many times when I talked with her. And because my grandmother was so candid and never prim or phony, you could talk to her about anything. She was real. She never tried to put on a façade. And I’ve learned a lot from her in this way.
And then there’s the time, I cut rips in my jeans for a cooler look. She took them from me. I thought oh, no. What would she think that I ruined a good pair of pants? And I got some classic Oma side-eye for this. But a week later, I got the jeans back with perfect rips up and down the legs. My grandmother had painstakingly cut and pulled each thread so they looked like they were straight from a designer store. I didn’t realize it at the time but this task must have taken so long and been so tedious. This illustrates the kind of grandmother she was. Sometimes a bit rough in the delivery, but underneath that roughness was a gem of a woman and mother—a gem with diamond strength and clarity in her devotion to her family. Oma held us accountable. Because Oma was never failing in her accountability to her family. And she was unfaltering her accountability to me, to her other grandchildren, to her children and she was unfaltering in her dedication to my grandfather throughout their 63 years of marriage.
Well, now it’s up to us to let her go. We will revel in a memory of a woman who was devoted and fun and anything but cliché. She set an example as a grandmother and as a mother and as a wife. Her marriage to my grandfather is an example to me and my husband everyday—a lesson in devotion, in accountability, in faithful love. And I know I can move forward today knowing that I am a better woman for having known and loved my Oma.
