I am writing this at the very end of the year and taking comfort in the fact that technically the twelve days of Christmas don't end until Epiphany, on January 6. So what if my cards are going out after everyone else's?
For me, 2010 had some big changes, but overall much is still the same. The year got off to an amazing start, with the birth of my niece Annabel on January 4. All the Terrys gathered in New Haven at my sister Amy's house to celebrate Christmas 2010, and my parents and I stayed on into the New Year. Big-sister-to-be Lucy kept all of us entertained as as we waited for the new baby's arrival. Getting to meet Annabel only a few hours after her birth was such a special experience. I'm happy to report that as she closes in on her first birthday, she is blonde, smiley and sunshiny, and just starting to walk and talk.
The second big change was at work. After nearly two years as a communications consultant for the IDB's Opportunities for the Majority initiative, I moved upstairs to join the communications team at the IDB's Multilateral Investment Fund. Like OMJ, the MIF works with the private sector to benefit the poor and excluded populations in the region. But it's been around much longer and does a wider variety of projects. I could go on for ages telling you about the great work we do, but am trying to keep this short. My dad, Don Terry, managed the MIF from its founding until he retired a little over three years ago, so it's been especially interesting to now work with many of his former colleagues and to see how the organization has grown and developed. I got to go to MIF's annual microfinance conference, "Foromic," in Costa Rica in October, where I wrote speeches for our general manager, saw a few of the projects we have funded there, and celebrated my birthday.
But overall, I still live in the same home, still drive the same car, go to the same church. I wrote several more "Date Lab" columns for the Washington Post Magazine (click on each word here for examples). I again vacationed in Sanibel, Fla. and Falmouth, Mass. with my parents and sisters and their families. I did have a really unusual and special experience this summer -- I was one of the leaders of a week-long San Francisco area "pilgrimage" with a dozen teens from St. Columba's. Our group had worked toward this trip for nearly two years, meeting on Sunday mornings, raising money and making plans. It was a wonderful journey, very intense and profound for me, and I think for the youth as well. The photo on the postcard you received from me is of one of the churches we visited, St. Gregory of Nyssa, which incorporates chanting and dancing into its services. Here's a short article I wrote about the pilgrimage, if you'd like to know more!
For me, 2010 had some big changes, but overall much is still the same. The year got off to an amazing start, with the birth of my niece Annabel on January 4. All the Terrys gathered in New Haven at my sister Amy's house to celebrate Christmas 2010, and my parents and I stayed on into the New Year. Big-sister-to-be Lucy kept all of us entertained as as we waited for the new baby's arrival. Getting to meet Annabel only a few hours after her birth was such a special experience. I'm happy to report that as she closes in on her first birthday, she is blonde, smiley and sunshiny, and just starting to walk and talk.
The second big change was at work. After nearly two years as a communications consultant for the IDB's Opportunities for the Majority initiative, I moved upstairs to join the communications team at the IDB's Multilateral Investment Fund. Like OMJ, the MIF works with the private sector to benefit the poor and excluded populations in the region. But it's been around much longer and does a wider variety of projects. I could go on for ages telling you about the great work we do, but am trying to keep this short. My dad, Don Terry, managed the MIF from its founding until he retired a little over three years ago, so it's been especially interesting to now work with many of his former colleagues and to see how the organization has grown and developed. I got to go to MIF's annual microfinance conference, "Foromic," in Costa Rica in October, where I wrote speeches for our general manager, saw a few of the projects we have funded there, and celebrated my birthday.
But overall, I still live in the same home, still drive the same car, go to the same church. I wrote several more "Date Lab" columns for the Washington Post Magazine (click on each word here for examples). I again vacationed in Sanibel, Fla. and Falmouth, Mass. with my parents and sisters and their families. I did have a really unusual and special experience this summer -- I was one of the leaders of a week-long San Francisco area "pilgrimage" with a dozen teens from St. Columba's. Our group had worked toward this trip for nearly two years, meeting on Sunday mornings, raising money and making plans. It was a wonderful journey, very intense and profound for me, and I think for the youth as well. The photo on the postcard you received from me is of one of the churches we visited, St. Gregory of Nyssa, which incorporates chanting and dancing into its services. Here's a short article I wrote about the pilgrimage, if you'd like to know more!
Wishing you much happiness and many blessings for 2012...
Love, Elizabeth
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