For us, the highlight (more accurately, lowlight) of 2021 was not the Covid restrictions. Instead, the fates conspired against Anne: she broke the arch of her right foot on January 10, and had surgery on January 19. For the first six weeks afterwards, she had wear a (thankfully removable) boot and keep her foot higher than her heart. So she spent all her time either in bed or in a recliner in the living room, with Jerry shuttling her from one to the other in a wheelchair. For six weeks after that, she was allowed to put weight on the foot but had to use a walker to move around. Later the boot came off and she graduated to walking with a cane. Thankfully, at year end, she no longer needed the cane but she still had some difficulty walking. A couple of her toes were numb; her doctor at Rothman Orthopedics told her the numbness might go away in a year. Or two. Or three. Or never!
We spent most of the year at home, but we did start going to Sea Isle City in May, staying Friday afternoon through Wednesday until September. We came back to Medford each week so Jerry could play hockey on Thursday and Friday mornings. Anne enjoyed her days at the shore, walking on the Promenade several blocks each weekend (as opposed to the two miles a day we walked on the beach in 2020).
Once summer was over, Jerry went back to playing ice hockey three times a week. And we have a ski trip planned for February 2022 but only Jerry will be skiing. We’ll be visiting Vail and sharing a condo with a friend (ironically, an orthopedic surgeon) we have known for 30 years. His wife is wintering in Hawaii so he was delighted when Jerry asked if they could ski together again. At age 79, Anne has sold her skis. She gave her boots away to Jeannie Thoren, whose tutoring and ski shop in Vail kept Anne skiing until she was nearly 78! Jeannie, a former pro racer, has been inducted into the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame for her decades of pioneering work in developing skis, boots and techniques specifically designed for women. As Jeannie says often, “Women are not just small men.”
In September, we joined Anne’s cousin Tom Sulpizio for a trip to the Grand Canyon. Tom’s father was one of the passengers on the United plane that was hit by a TWA plane in the infamous Grand Canyon air crash in 1956. Tom’s father and the other United passengers are buried in the cemetery at the Grand Canyon, and Tom is active in the crash memorial association.
Jerry & Anne with Tom Sulpizio
Anne was interviewed for about an hour by a gentleman who runs the oral history project about the crash. Anne recalled the morning when she, then a teenager, was awakened by her Aunt Jean who told her the terrible news. Her parents had gone over to Tom’s mother’s home, with a doctor, to tell her what had happened and comfort her.
We also visited Zion and Bryce National Parks that we enjoyed very much. The scenery was overwhelming.
The several cruises we had planned for this year were cancelled due to Covid. We have three cruises booked for 2022 — one to Canada, one to Alaska and one on the Mississippi River. For 2023, we have booked a trip to explore the British Isles (again), an Atlantic crossing from Norway to Iceland, and hopefully a visit to Malta. After that, we’ll see.
In April, Anne’s cousins Frank and Julia and their spouses hosted a birthday dinner for her at a lovely French restaurant in Ambler, Pa. It was the first time she had seen her cousins in 1½ years, again due to Covid. We saw them again in October at a dinner at Julia’s house.
Alan & Julia Tempest, Anne & Jerry, Maria & Frank Caiola
For Halloween, we invited Leah, another cousin, and her husband to join us on our dock for the annual Taunton Lake “Trick or Treat by Canoe” on October 30. It’s a fun event and the children are so cute. For Thanksgiving, we were joined for dinner at Seasons 52 by Jerry’s sister Deanna and brother-in-law Mark.
We returned to the Walnut Street Theater in October to see a production of Beehive! (we didn’t particularly enjoy the second half). We saw Andrea Boccelli in concert early in December; what a fantastic performance. We also attended the annual Philly Pops Christmas Concert, with Alan and Julia, in mid-December. It featured the Philadelphia Boys choir and Broadway star Hugh Panera, and was a wonderful way to kick off the holiday season.
Anne’s second book — Finding Your Career Niche: Conversations About Women and Business — was published at the beginning of the year by Business Expert Press. The monthly Zoom calls of the women who were profiled in Anne’s first book continue. That self-published book is titled On the Cusp: The Women of Penn ’64 and the group calls itself the Cuspers! Both books are available on Amazon.com. Anne attended a 1964 Penn class reunion via Zoom in June. Jerry’s 55th high school reunion was held in-person, but he had to miss it because it was held while we were at the Grand Canyon.
In November, we attended the annual Union League Fall Ball. The theme this year was “Masked Ball.” Jerry got a lot of favorable comments about his unconventional choice of a mask.
We hosted our young friend Andy Unterlechner of Innsbruck, Austria, for a couple of weeks in November. Andy’s late father is the man Jerry referred to as “the brother I never had.” Andy is an avid soccer fan (and former player), so we joined him at the first round playoff game between the Philadelphia Union and the New York Red Bulls. The Union won this and their next game but lost in the MSL league semifinal game two weeks later.
In December, we attended the Crystal Award dinner, honoring former Union League president Frank Giordano. Among his many civic, community and philanthropic activities, Frank is pro-bono president of the Philly Pops and former chairman of Goodwill Industries of Southern New Jersey and Philadelphia. He currently serves as executive director of America250, which will be orchestrating the 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026. We had the pleasure to sit next to Deana Martin, daughter of the late entertainer Dean Martin, and she clued us in to the documentary Dean Martin: The King of Cool, which premiered in December on Turner Classic Movies.
Andy Unterlechner, Deana Martin and Anne
As the year ended, Anne was seeing a neurologist and undergoing memory therapy for the effects of a concussion she got when she fell (but which didn’t manifest themselves until later in the year). She was also doing physical therapy for stiffness in her ankle, the result of the 12 weeks in a boot. It happens to be the same ankle she broke 30 years ago when we first met the doctor Jerry will be skiing with in February!
When summer ended, we once again had to stay at home, and like most people (except, it seems, a select few high government officials) we were unable to have Thanksgiving dinner with family or friends. There were even more restrictions on restaurants and travel, so we continued to stay at home. To date (December 2020), we have been fortunate that neither Anne nor Jerry has gotten sick. With the vaccine on the horizon, we will take it when it is offered by our doctor.
With Anne’s first cousins and spouses
