Meowy Christmas!

My name is Migizi (muh-gee’-zee), but you can call me McGee, Gizi, or just Gee. My purr-son, Linda, has been moving slowly after hip surgery (a tendon repair), so she enlisted my help to get the Christmas letter done. I’d rather wrap purr-esents (bright paper and cardboard boxes are pawsitively my favorites!), but because I want to remain her fur-iend, I agreed to write the annual Hanstra Year-in-Review.

I’ve lived with my family for over eight years, and can attest to 2023 being an eventful year—with big trips, little additions, and changes to work and play.

Purr…Oh, sorry. I was just taking a little snooze. Now, where were we?

Ah yes, 2023. Back in January, I was very excited when a new cardboard box arrived. I couldn’t wait for Linda to empty it so I could climb in. It was full of paperbacks, as Linda had just published her first book: Lent through the Little Things. Accomplishing this big dream was very fulfilling.

Besides writing, Linda also kept busy this year with reading, knitting (yarn is a favorite pastime of mine too!), and spending one Monday a month babysitting her Grand Rapids grands. Plus, she finally finished the Peter Rabbit cross-stitch quilt she started 32 years ago! Then, this fall, she went back to work as a part-time virtual speech-language pathologist. It’s been great, since she’s still home to keep me company!

While she stays home, Tom goes out. In fact, he’s constantly opening and closing the back door. He hops on a bike and returns. He goes for walks and returns. He drives to work at Notre Dame (now in year 29) and returns. He works outside—raking, mowing, picking up sticks, raking, snow blowing, raking… And since July, once or twice a month he goes to meetings at church, where he’s a deacon again.

The best thing is, he lets me slip, sneak, or dart past him whenever he opens the door. I run outside, hide under a bush, and wait fur someone to find me and bring me back inside. Tom must really like this game because he’s always opening that door.

Another door that opened and closed often this year was at the cabin up north. Since I was born in Minnesota, that place already feels like home. I love the smell of the pine trees, the feel of sunshine, and the sound of loon calls as I lounge on the deck. And when the breeze blows across the lake, I can almost taste the fish dinners. Several friends and family came to visit us there.

In April, Tom and Linda celebrated 35 years of marriage. To commemorate so many years of smooth sailing, they bought (with their kids’ help) two kayaks for the lake. Paddling has already provided hours of gentle exercise, relaxation, sunsets, and loon encounters.

Our new up-north neighbors have become fast fur-iends, as they happily cared for me while Tom and Linda were away. In June, the two of them took a bucket-list trip to Alaska for the 40-year reunion of Tom’s college friends (the Beta 4 Gang), first on a cruise ship and then in Homer, where Tom and the guys fished for halibut. They also visited Tom’s cousins in and around Anchorage and adventured up to Denali—the Great One—for a couple of days.

Excuse me while I stretch. Ahhhh, yes! That feels better.

After Alaska, Linda returned to the cabin to greet me. BUT…she wasn’t alone! She brought two bouncy, four-legged fur-balls with her. They smelled like cats, even though they weren’t big enough to be cats. I thought, “Are you kitten me?” (Have I mentioned I don’t like other cats?) These two—Linda called them “Boots” and “Cookie”—had the nerve to invade my space and take over the cabin for the next few weeks.

Then, just as I was beginning to tolerate these slightly adorable creatures, they disappeared. I hear some friends adopted Boots, and Cookie now lives with Chloe, so I still bump into him occasionally. He’s coming for an extended visit over Christmas. Yippee. 😼

Chloe calls Linda almost daily and I like to eavesdrop on their conversations. I’ve heard that besides being a cat mom, she’s in her second year of Library and Information Studies at UW-Madison. She was thrilled to attend both the American and Wisconsin Library Association conferences this year. She still works at Miggy’s (a bakery named after the owner’s DOG. I know, crazy, right?), where she bakes cookies and coordinates events and weddings. She also works as a teaching assistant in the math department—a huge blessing as it pays her tuition. Her travels this year included a visit to Jared in Colorado with her friend Emily and time spent at the cabin with her St. Olaf friends, and later with the family. She and Leah also took their first-ever sister road trip to Tennessee, visiting cousins in Nashville and hiking in the Smokies.

Speaking of sister Leah, I see her often, since she lives just 15 minutes away. I like her visits, despite getting a whiff of her two cats, Stitch and Violet. (I met them once, and that was enough!) She’s been busy this year with her job as a mew-sic therapist, her role as volunteer for our church’s youth group (organizing their winter retreat and 30-hour famine), and her part in the musical Guys and Dolls at our local Civic Theatre. Health-wise, Leah’s diabetes turned 10 this year, and although she’s thriving physically, the mental stress of her turning 26 and switching to her own health insurance about sent her (and Linda) over the edge! To relieve her stress, Leah crocheted a “temperature blanket” (one row for every day of the year), and of course, she spent lots of time with a certain young man. She and Garrett, a reception hall events manager (and D&D—Dungeons and Dragons—master), have been together for a year and a half. He keeps us all laughing with his witty comments and hiss-terical facial expressions.

Our Michigan kids—Seth and Maddie—come around regularly. When they do, I usually run and hide, since they often bring their big dog, Kida, with them. (Dogs are even worse than other cats.) They also bring that little guy, Oliver, with them. After 3 ½ years, we’re finally getting used to each other and I only try to scare him with my hiss once in a while. But wouldn’t you know? About the time I started getting used to Ollie, they introduced another member to our family…little Eloise Joy.

That was the biggest excitement for the whole family this year. I might as well be invisible when Ellie comes around because everyone is completely smitten with her. She just turned seven months old, and it looks like she’ll be getting her two front teeth for Christmas. The new teeth will look great with the smile that she wears most of the time.

Ollie is a purr-etty cool big brother and loves to make Ellie laugh. He also enjoys learning, “reading,” talking, singing, and being silly whenever his mom and dad Facetime with Lala and Papa. After Easter, Ollie had his first sleepover (without Mom & Dad) at Lala and Papa’s house. It was fun for all!

Seth stepped into two new roles this year. At work for Davey Tree, he moved into a designer job which allows him to work from home. Although he sometimes misses being out in the field, stepping up in the company has been good for him and the family. He likes his new position, but his favorite new role is “girl-dad.” He spends every possible moment fawning over his adorable daughter, hoping she doesn’t grow up too fast. For fun, Seth took several bike rides, built a gaming PC, and enjoyed playing Magic and online D&D.

Not to be outdone, Maddie also took on two new roles this year. Just before school started in the fall, she left her previous job to become a middle school resource room teacher at a new (to her) school. The position has provided more support and less stress than her old job. That has been a huge blessing as her other new role—being a mother of two—presents heavier demands on her time and energy. Both kids attend daycare four days a week and spend one day with Maddie’s mom. In what little spare time she has, Maddie loves to read, craft, and join Seth and their friends for D&D. Their family couldn’t join us in Minnesota this year due to the new baby, but they spent many summer days at Sandy Pines, a local resort with swimming, water slides, mini-golf, playgrounds, and golf-cart rides to the ice cream shop.

Jared, the eldest Hanstra kid, makes the fewest appearances around here. I guess that’s understandable since he lives the farthest from Michigan. He enjoys living in Denver and loves his proximity to the mountains where—always on the move—he skis, hikes, climbs, and runs. In February, Tom and Linda went to visit him and came back talking about the beautiful scenery, fun times spent with Jared, hiking, skiing, and sore muscles. Jared takes it all “in stride,” as he ran his first “ultra” marathon—a 50K—in Moab, Utah with friends this November. When he does sit still, he continues working for Indeed.com and was happy to survive the company’s latest round of layoffs. His travels this year covered much of North America as he visited Mexico City and Oaxaca (Mexico), Montreal and the Rockies of Alberta (Canada), and of course, Minnesota and Michigan (USA) to see the family and me.

Though my family is often scattered throughout the country and Tom, Linda, and I enjoy our quiet nest, it’s always fun, and a little crazy, when all the kids are home. For the first time in a few years, everyone was here for the Thanksgiving weekend. They all abandoned me to spend the holiday with Tom’s family, who are doing well. Then they took off again to cut their Christmas trees.

Don’t you love Christmas? I do! I bat at the ornaments, drink sweet sap water, and sleep under the pine needles draped in soft-white lights. I look forward to all my peeps being together (not to mention the explosion of cardboard boxes waiting to be sniffed, scratched, and snoozed in).

I might be “just a cat”, but I sense there is some deeper meaning in all of this. I hope you find it.

That about wraps it up for this year’s installment of the Hanstra Review. I hope it’s been a pawsitive experience for you. I know the Hanstras are thinking of you during this season and love to receive your letters, cards, photos, and comments.

Whether we are family, long-time or brand-new fur-iends, or you discovered Linda’s writing online, the Hanstras wish you a Meowy Christmas and a Purrfectly Happy Mew Year!

Love,

Migizi and family

P.S. Please paw-don the excessive use of puns!
P.P.S. Keep up to date with our family and Linda’s writing by leaving your email address in the “subscribe” box below. She’d love to have you along on her “Empty-Nest Joyride!”

Feline Fine in Our Family of Nine: the 2023 Hanstra Year In Review!

Meowy Christmas!