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Dear friends:
Now that Mark
and Sandy are married, they have been behaving suspiciously like grown-ups. They
got jobs, bought a washer and dryer, and began going to bed at nine o’clock.
Now, horror of horrors, they are crossing the final boundary into irrecoverable
adult status- they are sending Christmas letters to all their friends and
family.
In January of 1995, Mark left his job as Technology Manager at
Nustats, to dedicate himself to finishing his long-ignored thesis. Mark and
Sandy reverted to student status for nine months while Mark wrote his thesis and
Sandy finished her coursework towards her Masters degree. Mark’s topic, the
effects of consumer perceptions on the economy combined his interests in
political science, economics, and psychology. While writing the thesis, Mark
also researched graduate schools. They visited schools in San Diego, San
Francisco, and New Orleans. During these visits, they did not decide on a career
path, but they did see the Golden Gate Bridge, Tijuana, and the French Quarter.
They also helped throw a number of very successful parties, and began
playing Dungeons and Dragons on a weekly basis. But they did not make any career
decisions and by May their graduate careers were looking bleak. Then, after much
soul-searching, (and reading an article on income potential for psychologists in
various fields) Mark came to a decision. He would be an industrial psychologist.
This career path would utilize his training in psychology, computers and
economics. Energized by this new goal, Mark finished his thesis and turned it in
for approval. Unfortunately, his advisor had left on a sabbatical to Alaska, to
return at an unspecified date, and Mark’s thesis remained in Limbo.
In
the meantime, Sandy completed her coursework, and began to research thesis
topics. She decided on a new topic every week for several months. Finally, a few
days before the deadline to submit topics for approval, she dashed off a few
thoughts about a little-known portion of Lewis Carroll’s Through the
Looking-Glass, which was removed from the novel prior to its publication. She
presented it to her very understanding advisor who miraculously turned the notes
into a thesis proposal. Thus, her topic was approved, and Sandy is now stuck
with the topic without hope of parole.
After her thesis topic was
approved, she and Mark set off an a cross-country journey from Beaumont, Texas
to Romulus, New York. Unfortunately, they got only as far as Louisiana, when
they were pulled over by police, convinced that two veritable children such as
the Morrises could not possible own a mini-van as snazzy as the one they were
driving. They were right, of course, but the van was not stolen; it belonged to
Sandy’s parents, and they had agreed to drive it to New York, where Sandy’s
mother spends the summer. Having convinced the police they were not hoodlums on
the lam, they continued on their cross-country trek, which included Atlanta, the
Blue Ridge Parkway, Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Mark’s grandmother’s house
in Pennsylvania. Then, exhausted and disheveled, they made the final leg of
their journey, up to New York.
Mark spent a significant amount of time
helping Steve and his Amish carpenters build a new deck, and learned a great
deal about non-electric power tools. They returned from their irresponsibly long
trip, weary but happy.
Sandy’s brother James lived with them over the
summer and brought the Morrises to new heights of irresponsibility. Under James’
influence, they stayed up late every night, ate junk food, swilled soda by the
case, and generally partied too much. James also joined in their weekly Dungeons
and Dragons game and accompanied them on excursions to pick blackberries and
peaches and on a tubing trip down the Comal River in New Braunfels.
The
summer was not entirely fun and games, however. Mark enrolled in undergraduate
classes at The University of Texas in an effort to improve his GPA. Mark, as
many of you may recall, had a lot of fun as an undergraduate and became a very
agile tennis player. He did not, however, make very good grades. Proving beyond
a shadow of a doubt that motivation and not intellect was his downfall in those
carefree days, Mark received straight A’s during the summer and was the top
student in his classes.
Following their nuptial lead, their friends Jana
& Hector and Mark’s cousin Terri & Sean were married during the summer
and the Morrises participated in their weddings. Tragically, Jana and Hector
moved all the way to Ohio, where Hector found employment as an engineer. This
left a large hole in their hearts and in their weekly D&D game.
In
September, Mark was hired as a Research Analyst at The Psychological Corporation
(a subsidiary of Harcourt Brace). He helps develop psychological tests (like
Intelligence Tests and Personality Scales). This meant Mark and Sandy would have
to leave their beloved city of Austin to go to San Antonio. Sandy agreed and
quickly found employment as a resume writer with a professional writing service.
Mark defended his thesis and passed with no revisions, thus ensuring his
graduation in December.
Thus the unemployed students suddenly became
DINKS (double income, no kids) and began looking suspiciously grown up. D&D
trickled to a halt, they began purchasing major appliances, and were recently
seen attending professional conferences. Their web page sits unfinished, with little hope they will find
time to complete its construction. They do have time, however, to wish their
friends and family a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.