Happy Holidays
from the Balakrishnan family
Dear (Deer?) Family and Friends,
Another year is over already, and to be honest, 2012 was unbelievable. Last year I wrote to everyone about how well we were doing, and this year has been no exception!
Grandma traveled back to India in December, wanting to live there for a while. We miss her presence here but we know that her other grandchildren are enjoying her company.
My mother, Revathi, spent one more year teaching gifted students at Patsy Sommer Elementary. Last Christmas she bought herself an e-Reader and since then has read more books this year than any year prior. She also made two long but memorable trips to India for her father’s 80th birthday and a nephew’s wedding, and spent all the time in between managing everything and anything for my school’s debate team. She’s been invaluable this year in every area of her life, and she still has her wicked sense of humor.
My father, Anant, also continues his line of work but has broached the subject of going on research leave next year. (This, of course, has my mother very excited.) The possibilities are endless, and I sincerely hope that next year they get to adventure in beautiful places, or even just go back and stay in India for a little while.
This December, Divya, my sister, will have completed her first full year in Boston—where she’s been through a lack of air-conditioning, dissection of various strange, aquatic animals, and the fall foliage that we sorely miss down here in Texas. She continues to teach high school students and she’s had the chance to meet up with many of our relatives who live in the northeast as well as make a lot of new friends.
And finally, me. I, as a senior in high school, have completely succumbed to the laziness we call “senioritis”. I spend my days procrastinating on college apps and various school papers by drawing, debating (as captain of the speech team) and having multiple movie marathons. This year, I spent the best week of my life in LA making a short film, was accepted into college, and have voraciously pursued my passion for digital art. (I even drew the cover of this holiday card.) I hope to major in Illustration or something like it, but for now I’m looking forward to a relaxing holiday and having a great last semester of high school.
We hope that you are all doing well and congratulate you on living through the December 21st apocalypse. Have a good holiday and a better new year, and may 2013 bring even greater things!
Sincerely,
Preethi Balakrishnan