home for a traditional Romanian Christmas dinner. It was a delight to see the joy in Raluca’s eyes as we kept asking for seconds of schnitzel and her special signature dish (one that I learned to love at the home of her parents in Craiova, Romania) - salată de boeuf.

· Later that evening, we received a visit from a large gentleman clad in a suit of red with white trim. He was bearded and had an infectious laugh. Two-year-old Laurelin was initially terrified, but as she watched her two neighbors crawl up into Santa’s lap with no apparent ill effects, she eventually came around and spent time on his lap as well. She was eventually so enthralled with his visit that she kept jumping up and down andslapping herself on the side of the head in sheer delight!

· A Christmas day conversation with my son, Tim, who is spending time in Poland teaching English. His teaching assignment is in the town of Katowice, but he is spending the Christmas break in Krakow, visiting a girlfriend who is from Latvia – the daughter of ethnic Russian parents. Tim described a memorable and beautiful midnight Mass at a church in Krakow – with the Mass being sung and celebrated partly in Polish and partly in Latin.

· The news of the devastating earthquake off the coast of Sumatra brought home the point of how interconnected we are. Within hours of learning of the widespread damage, I made calls to check on the well being of family and friends