Sevgili Dostlar, Dear Friends:
Yeni yılınız kutlu ve mutlu olsun. We wish you a happy New Year and hope 2013 brings you health, wealth and happiness. Here is our story from 2012.
The Yackleys and Johnses began the year on a Caribbean cruise, during which we stopped at Turks and Caicos, Aruba and Curacao. Leander, then eight months old, had a whale of a time. Now 20 months, he is chatting away mostly in bebekçe (baby talk), but when asked how he is in Turkish, his answer is, “Iyiyim” (I am fine). When asked who the president is, he answers “Obama.” He is a highly curious and engaging little boy and the love of our lives.
I couldn’t stay away from Leander for long, so I flew to Istanbul in March just before he turned 1-year-old. Joe was doing research in Egypt, so he joined us in Istanbul. He is putting the finishing touches on his Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Chicago, which he hopes to defend in January 2013, in time to make his training at the U.S. Department of State and begin his new career in the foreign service.
John earned his master’s in finance from Loyola University in Chicago and hopes to spend a couple of weeks with his aunt and uncle in Germany over Christmas. In July, Ayla fulfilled one of her life’s ambitions and entered a swimming race in the Bosphorus Strait to cross from Asia to Europe. She swam the four-mile course in 1 hour 14 minutes and finished 20th in her group – not bad as she spent much of the time taking in the view and watching dolphins frolic with the 1,400 swimmers. The Johnses did a lot of traveling for business and pleasure this year, including to London for Simon’s sister’s wedding and to Oman for his work. They spent two weeks with us in Chicago over Thanksgiving and will be with his family in south England over Christmas. They will celebrate Ayla’s birthday on New Year’s Eve with friends in Provence, France.
Sel’s Sassy Sisters got together at the Tennessee Fitness Spa in June and had a swell time in the hills. We are going back September 8-15, 2013. Please join us to enhance the quality of your life. Couples from Arizona, Oklahoma, North Carolina and Georgia joined me in a tour of Turkey in September. We explored the ancient sites of Asia Minor and the Turkish Riviera in another wonderful trip, which ended with the Johnses joining my close friend Emel Singer and me on the Mediterranean for a relaxed sun-filled week. I flew to Hannover, Germany, for a week in mid-October to visit Nil and Torhan before returning to Chicago for Joe’s birthday on Halloween.
My travel adventures will continue aboard the MV Explorer from January to April 2013 as a Lifelong Learner participating in the Institute for Shipboard Education at the University of Virginia. My cabin mate, Topy Fiske, a dear friend from our Chicago Tribune days, and I will take field trips in 16 countries, audit classes and enjoy the company of Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his wife. Follow my adventures at my new blog (www.selatsea.blogspot.com). We arrive in Barcelona on April 25, and I will fly to Istanbul to spend another month with my grandson and his parents.
Enough about us! Let’s hear from you. Here’s to more peace and harmony in the world in 2013.
Sel Yackley
selyackley@gmail.com
1000 N. Lake Shore Dr. #1608
Chicago, IL 60611
www.selatsea.blogspot.com
Hi Sel,
ReplyDeleteYou must be so proud of your two sons and your daughter. I know John from way back when he worked with my now ex german boyfriend and we both visited and stayed and had the good fortune to meet Joe also in Chicago. I hope life is good with you. regards, Esther in Dublin
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ReplyDeleteHello there, I am very happy that you had such fun celebrations with your family and loved ones. I also love to celebrate with my loved ones and make some good memories and that is why last week we also celebrated last Christmas at best Chicago venues.
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