Wittmann Family Christmas Letters

Christmas 1999

FIN DE SIÈCLE

The fin de siècle sentiment of last century seems to have its repetition these last days of the 20th century. We were never able to really understand that fin de siècle sentiment of euphoria. Maybe living during an era after two world wars was inhibitory in this respect. Maybe that sentiment is now brought about by the communication revolution similar to the industrial revolution of the late 19th century. Everything in this country is looked at with euphoria these days. This morning in public radio, Mrs. Clinton was referred to not only as being the First Lady of the United States, but also as the First Lady of the entire world. I suppose that most of the Chinese would have a problem with that notion. Not so in America! This is a great feeling: it seems to be a great time, everybody has a job, the stock market is open to any individual, the economy flourishes, and wealth seems to grow. The sentiment is indescribably emphatic.

1999 was Annemarei's year. She has completed her medical studies. We are all very proud of her. Now that she is Dr. Wittmann she treats patients at the New York University Downtown Hospital, lives in Manhattan with a view of the Empire State Building, and has hardly any time to be seduced by the incredible vividness of the fascinating metropolitan New York. Here in this picture, Annemarei shows her diploma following graduation. One cannot deny that she ex-presses a certain joy as to the event.

The second important event of this year is displayed in the picture in the upper right corner. Sabine Elisabeth Witt-mann was born in Baltimore on June 30. Lisa has accomplished this with the same elegance she shows in everything she does. Already three hours after the birth we were allowed to see her and the child. Mark, of course, was with her from the very beginning and didn't abandon her until the task was completed. We are thankful that the baby is healthy.

Mark is very happy these days with his "Johns Hopkins University" and we are happy about the recognition he receives from his peers and his teachers. Now to us: Both our mothers visited with us for a month this past summer. Lona was here in August to celebrate her 85th birthday. Liesel joined us in September. During those days the scenery of Wisconsin was marked with colorful forests and prairies. Its wild romantic shoreline on Lake Michigan was basked in a unique, fascinating bright Indian Summer light that mediates a particular feeling. A feeling that there is more air to breathe and urge to experience more. Heidi always says, the skies are very high during that time in Wisconsin. We are happy that we could share that feeling with our mothers .

The year passed quickly, and as always we have been traveling quite a bit. This year maybe not to as many distant shores as in previous years; instead, we traveled more often to Baltimore. During the first days of the year all members of the family were able to gather again in sunny and warm Ixtapa in Mexico. This year we had a rather mediocre cook, but that nevertheless was good for our waistline. Along with the children we enjoyed the good weather and family life with many, many discussions. Anna's friend, Debbie Saudek, had joined us and heavily contributed amiable spice and intellectual challenges to our family life. Debbie is now doing her internal medicine residency at Boston University. In April we traveled to Florida to find out if in the near future we would like to live there. A 4-acre property in Citrus Hill on Mustang Blvd. of Crystal River had seduced us. But after that, when we drove further down to Longboat Key to see the fantastic turquoise blue gulf waters and the white sandy beaches, we had to realize that for a definitive decision it had been a little early, and so we postponed the decision to the early Y2K. Later we were for the very first time in Seattle, a burgeoning city with its own very personal flare that reminds us of our Hamburg heritage. The fine taste of smoked salmon that we got in the early hours of the fish market still leaves a won-derful taste on our tongue. We met many, many good friends in Seattle and spent also some time with Bob and Marsha Condon, my former chief and his wife, who are spending their post-professional life in a wonderful flower garden full of rare rhododendrons.

In May and June we met many, but not all our friends in Hamburg, because Dietmar was coughing too much. The coughing continued to early June and reduced the enjoyment in Oslo where we went to this year's annual meeting of the Surgical Infection Society of Europe. Additionally it was raining lelentlessly in Oslo. Too bad! Heidi, however, en-joyed the city nevertheless. Among many other small trips, our journey to South Carolina was remarkable. Its Atlantic shoreline was a wonderful experience. Charleston and Savannah surprised us with their Southern charm. Tropical green decorated those cities and contributed to a feeling comfortable and cozy atmosphere there. Do we want to liver there? Maybe. To all of our friends, we would like to wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, a happy new century, and a happy new Millenium. Wow! Y2K hopefully will bring only good things. This will probably be the last change of the year that we will experience in Wisconsin. A wonderful episode in our lives comes therefore to completion with joy we are looking to the future, possibly in the land of the sun, Dietmar and Heidi

Brookfield December 1999

Dietmar und Heidi,

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