Having survived two assassination attempts, four federal lawsuits and never-ending criticism from the ladies on The View this past year, I'm still around to deliver the annual, free-of-charge, organic, free-range Haugen Christmas letter. It is not, however, hormone free. So, like sand through an hourglass, these are the days of our lives, the 2024 edition:
First, the bad news. Nancy's mom, Monica, passed away last February. It left a big hole in the heart of Nancy and all the family. While I was the leader of the mother-in-law jokes, I think about her often. She was a force of nature. My favorite, most-recent memory of her was during a visit and we attended Mass in Hermosa. During the Lord's Prayer at our church it is common to hold hands with your neighboring family member. On that day it was Monica. On the drive home she told me: "You have the softest hands I've ever held." I took it as a compliment, a result of my life-long quest to avoid manual labor, and a reminder that real men moisturize.
On the brighter side of things, we gained a son-in-law in March, when Katie married Kwinn in a beautiful ceremony on the beach in Clearwater, FL. He's a great guy, treats her like a queen, and is a handy guy to have around when I need some manual labor done. They live just outside Keystone, where he is president of the S.D. Mining Association, and she continues to direct things west of The River for our state's lone congressman. They soon there-after added a member to their family (scandal! not) by the name of Gilmore, a Golden Retriever puppy, who is turning into a good friend for Finn.
Rylee and Stetson relocated to Redding in northern California, where she teaches fifth grade and he took a job with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Rylee and daughter Josie visited us for a couple weeks last summer, where Josie once again proved to be in the 99th percentile of cuteness. They'll do Christmas here in early January.
Luke and Kayla are still in northern Virginia, where both work in DC - Luke catching bad guys and Kayla keeping people from catching food-borne pathogens. Their German Shepard, Klaus, continues to keep an eye on them and pity the fool who crosses them. I visited them during a work trip in March and Nancy and her sister, Pam, visited a few months later. They're doing well.
I'd be remiss in not mentioning our other foreign "daughter", Burcu, who we hadn't seen since she returned home to Turkey twenty-some years ago. But she flew in for Katie's wedding and brought tears to everyone's eyes. All the family has stayed in touch with her over the years and she fit back in with the gang like she'd never left. She's a jewel of a young woman.
Nancy continues working for the back-cracker. She's teaching Sunday school and other stuff at our church (I'm not really sure what-all, but it frees up the TV for my football watching on Sunday afternoons). Speaking of, how about them Vikings?! I've been around long enough to know they'll eventually break my heart but it's been fun so far.
I'm coming up on 20 years with the now Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate. That far exceeds my previous long of five years at the same job. Of note for me this past year, I visited Las Vegas for the first time (with Nancy and my in-laws Jay and Pam). I'm pretty sure God said: "Okay, you're 60 now, how much trouble can you get in?" This summer my tomato crop was unsatisfactory, but like the Twins, there's always next year.
My mom is doing well at the assisted living center in Milbank. She watches a lot of football, enjoys her BINGO nights and wine Wednesdays. Send her a note or give her a call, she'd love it.
And, lastly, we had to put down ol' Huckleberry the Basset Hound a few weeks ago. His antics are missed, but none more-so than during Vikings games when it's been my habit to holler "Touchdown!" when they score. Then he would "woof! woof! woof!" along as I got him a treat. Now I holler "Touchdown!" and Finn just looks at me. No replacement is imminent (on orders of the boss lady), but I'm a weak man and don't always listen well (hey, I'm 60, the ears ain't what they used to be); so in a moment of weakness I may surprise her. If you don't get one of these updates next year, you'll know why.
Anyway, thank you to all my rag-tag friends and family who provided the good moments of 2024. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of ya.
Mark
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