Bob Whitehead Letter Dec 10, 2009

Hi Whitey,

I’ve been thinking of you lately wondering what you are doing down there in Tim Teebow/Jeb Bush country.  Sure hope that you and Janie are well and enjoying your life down there.

In your last letter several months ago you mentioned that you took a big hit because of the recession and in fact I have too.  At this point I have lost about 30% of my American Baptist pension. It was pretty good to start with so I’m still OK and I’m grateful for that.  I imagine that you’ve been hit worse than me.

Jeri is still working part-time for Bennett Lawrence Mgt. She wanted to retire but they talked her into staying and kept giving her benefits plus a lot of time off. Sort of an offer she couldn’t refuse. Right now she’s spending a few days out in California with her mother who has Alzheimer’s. Her mom is sort of holding her own but she is deteriorating slowly. It’s hard to watch.

As for me my dang body ain’t what it used to be but I’m generally doing well. I had arthroscopic surgery on my left knee a year ago and it’s doing pretty good now.  Also I’ve had some shoulder problems but with some PT and a lot of exercising I’m able to keep it functioning OK. Now that I’m retired I hang out at the Athletic Club more.  I enjoy it greatly and it also helps to keep me more sane.

Jeri and I continue to love Broadway and we attend a lot of shows there.  I think that if she could, Jeri would go to two or three shows per week. The last show we saw was A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC starring Angela Lansbury and Catherine Zeta Jones. I’ve had a long term relationship with Catherine although she doesn’t know about it.

It feels great not to be doing ministry now. I was really ready to retire.  Looking back on my days in the ministry I still feel very positive about many of the things I did and many of the causes in which I was involved. But the judgementalism and arrogance in much of organized religion suffocated me more and more.  Also in describing the nature of God to people I began to feel more and more like an amoeba attempting to understand and describe the Aurora Borealis. I’m light years away from Wheaton type beliefs. Having said this I am at a point where I feel more spiritual peace and contentment than I’ve ever felt.

Concerning my kids:

Suzy works in Family Services for the state of New Hampshire.  She’s married to a state trooper…they have two girls, 10 and 4. They lost their little disabled boy a couple of years ago just before his fifth birthday. He was profoundly disabled from birth. He was an angel.  The family lives on a farm on top of a mountain.

Scott is married and has two step kids, lives down in Ft. Worth TX.  He marches to his own drumbeat…plays a mean guitar…still skies better than most…easy going…a basically happy guy.

Jim lives with Joanne up in New Hampshire near Suzy.  Jim’s had his problems  but seems to be doing well with it right now. He too is a nature lover…loves to hike and ski, anything outside.

Mikey and his wife have a small farm about 50 miles north of Atlanta. Mikey has a good landscaping business working a lot with commercial and county properties. Stacie designs software. They have no kids but are animal lovers, five dogs, five cats, two horses and soon two goats.

Would you believe Nub recently surfaced up here in New York. His new job is with an organization called Soccer Saves. On the surface it looks like good work. Currently Nub is doing a pilot project over in Ethiopia.  Anyway, while he was up here doing some PR and Fundraising, Jeri and I had dinner with him. It was fun. Nub hasn’t changed one iota.

I pulled for the Yankees this year and they finally won a Series again.  Also I’m still pulling for Obama although it looks like his honeymoon is hugely over.  I feel mixed about sending more troops to Afghanistan. In regard to Health Care Reform how do you feel about a public option?

Thinking about you and Janie and I wonder about a lot of things. Is your health still good?  I wonder how your kids are doing. Are you doing any consultant work? Is Janie working?  Can she beat you in tennis?  Golf? Do you think you can still beat me in free throws, ping pong, jarts? Do you think your biceps are bigger than mine?

I do think about you Whitey and I’m very grateful for all of our good memories.

In this season I wish the very best for you and Janie.

Love from me and Jeri.