The Cast of Characters - Chapter One

Every once in a while, I'll post some background info on a few of the colorful characters I get to hang out with. Today, I'll fill you in on the "stars" of this soap opera sitcom I am living.

I am married to Downtown Dad. We are head over heels, some would say annoyingly, in love with each other after almost 25 years of marriage. We live in a purple house in an impossibly nice town, in the upper midwestern frozen tundra plains. We do not hunt moose. We have three great kids, three noisy birds, two fuzzy dogs, four working cars, and one working shower.

Downtown Dad, in addition to being the world's best husband and father, is a politician, lobbyist, promoter, historian, and genealogist, with a dubious gift of gab. That man will talk to anyone… really, ANYone. He works… well… he works Downtown.

Bobby is our oldest son, he is a procrastinating photographer. He rents a house with some friends a few miles away and earns a living as a server at a local restaurant. He could be earning a living with his photography talent, making enough money to own a house instead of renting one, and he could be finishing those last few credits for his degree, but nooooo. We are working out some issues.

Kelsie, almost 20, as the first granddaughter in a long string of grandsons, is the Undisputed Princess on Downtown Dad's side of the family. She is an artist in every sense of the word, drawing, painting, sculpting, all seemingly effortlessly. She also sings, dances and performs in local theatre and works at a local restaurant.  She has taken a year off from college, but plans to start classes in the fall....

Jarrod, too, is an accomplished musical theatre performer, with a long list of lead and feature roles on his resume.  He turns 18 this year and is enrolled at American University in Washington DC.  He starts this fall.  He taught himself to play guitar and plays in a garage band - they made a CD, then they went on hiatus. He is very much like Downtown Dad in his love of history, and politics, and that whole gift of gab thing.

Me? After slogging around in the corporate world while my kids were at home, I am now working two part time jobs.  I'm the administrative assistant for our local symphony orchestra, and I also work for our local hospital in their digital marketing department.  I possess neither the gift of gab, nor the artistic talents so abundant in the other members of my family. I can throw together a wicked sentence or two though, and that to me is much more practical than all that singing and drawing stuff. And, well, somebody's got to write the Christmas Letter!