JP's Plaque

As I sat in the audience, waiting for the Jazzy Holiday Celebration to begin, I knew the drill. I had, after all, chaired the committee which organized the previous year's event. As a member of DU's University College Alumni Network (UCAN) Advisory Council, I knew what was coming. Linnea Hauser (DU Alumni Relations) would present the UCAN Achievement Award; the band would be introduced and we would be treated to a delightful Jazz concert. What I did not expect, however, was to be the recipient of the aforementioned award. Sure, I had speculated to myself who the lucky winner might be. A few names came to mind, however, my own was not one of them. As I heard Linnea describe what the recipients had done to merit this recognition disbelief set-in. Wow! In the intervening moments between this realization and my name being called (along with Arlene Abady, my co-recipient) I scrambled for words to utter at the podium. An improvised joke might come-off wrong and I certainly did not have any prepared mental outline. The deal-clincher was the bouquet of flowers (what does a man say to an audience whith flowers in his hands? I love you?) I ended-up accepting the award with a "Thank you", which was probably one of the better outcomes, as it brought the band on-stage sooner.

Last night, a plaque bearing my name was added to those of others honored in previous years. If you are ever in the University Hall building at the University of Denver, stop by the third floor and check it out. I guess it goes to show that even if you don't think what you're doing accounts for much, others are paying attention and may beg to differ.

Feliz Navidad 2007

Queridos amigos y parientes,
Ha sido un buen número de años desde que la familia González Alvarado ha escrito una carta navideña, de modo que nos falta un poco de práctica. Mientras intentábamos organizar nuestras ideas acerca del año 2007 nos pareció apropiado un sistema numérico.

Dos: Es el número de adolescentes en este hogar. Por difícil que parezca creerlo, Verónica ha cumplido trece años (Francisco ya tiene catorce), así es que tenemos un par de (buenos) adolescentes en casa. Dos también es el número de visitantes que tuvimos del Ecuador este verano. Fuimos bendecidos con visitas de Juan Francisco, sobrino de Juan Pablo (muy buen muchacho y compañero de juegos de Francisco) y Laurita, su suegrita (que ha conseguido su visa de inmigrante, solo pide que no le empiecen a decir "residente").

Tres: Es el número de niños que están en una nueva escuela. Francisco está ya en el tercer curso (su escuela anterior iba solo hasta el Segundo curso), lo que significa que tuvo que pasarse al colegio "La Santa Familia". Tuvo una muy buena participación en el equipo de balompié y sus notas también van mejorando). El Pablo está en el Pre-Kínder en "San Pedro y Pablo" y Rafael ha ingresado al maternal "Pequeños Corazones". Los dos pequeños están felices con sus nuevas escuelitas, no se puede decir lo mismo del mayor (después de todo es adolescente).

Cuatro: El número de estados que visitamos en las vacaciones de verano. El primero fue Nevada (ver número quince). Luego hicimos un viaje por tierra cruzando Colorado hacia Utah donde visitamos los arcos naturales y el gran lago salado y finalmente Wyoming, estado que cruzamos volando para ir a buscar a nuestra perrita (ver número diez)

Cinco: Viajes de negocios de Juan Pablo este año (gracias a Dios por la reducción dramática de viajes este año). Nashville, Washington DC, San José, Charlotte y Atlanta estuvieron en el itinerario. Les comparto una anécdota del viaje en Febrero a visitar a la Comisión Federal de Comunicaciones (FCC por sus siglas en ingles). Fui a reunirme con los consejeros legales de los miembros de la comisión que tienen sus oficinas en el "octavo piso" (que se encuentra ubicado en el noveno nivel del edificio). Sucede que al mudar las oficinas del FCC del viejo edificio (que sí tenía ocho pisos) quisieron mantener la nomenclatura, así es que presidente de la comisión se saltó la planta baja y empezó numerando al piso dos como "primer piso" y así sucesivamente…

Diez: El número de días que estuvo perdida Diamond, nuestra perrita bóxer. Se escapó cuando estábamos de vacaciones y nos dio un sustazo. La buscamos en todos los refugios de animales de la ciudad a diario y pusimos anuncios en un radio de cinco kilómetros de donde se perdió. La encontraron a cuatro kilómetros de donde se perdió. Perdió nueve libras. Hemos intentado preguntarle qué estaba pensando y cuantas aventuras tuvo, pero hasta le fecha se ha rehusado a contarnos. Estamos muy agradecidos por su regreso

Quince: Años de matrimonio de Juan Pablo y Mónica. Durante este tiempo hemos sido bendecidos con cuatro bellos niños, buena salud y un hogar feliz. Para nuestro aniversario de cristal decidimos alejarnos de los niños e ir a Las Vegas por cuatro días. Tuvimos mucha diversión caminando por las calles, comiendo bien y viendo los espectáculos. ¿Qué tipo de cristal se puede comprar en Las Vegas? Pues, en nuestro caso fuimos a una tienda en forma de botella de Coca Cola y compramos allí la cristalería. Nada expresa sofisticación como vasitos para tragos de la Coca Cola.

Cincuenta y tres: Es el número de kilómetros (de ida) que Mónica tiene que manejar para ir al trabajo. Ha estado en Qwest por cinco años y medio y disfruta de brindar el Espíritu de Servicio a través cuarenta y cinco Ilamadas telefónicas diarias. De alguna manera logra equilibrar perfectamente su trabajo con su papel de ama de casi modelo.

Cuarenta: No me refiero a los días y noches del diluvio ni al tiempo que pasó Jesús en el desierto antes de su ministerio público. Estoy hablando de la edad de Juan Pablo. I'm talking about JP's age! ¿Pueden creerlo? Por ocasión de su cumpleaños merendamos con amigos y familiares en el área de Denver (fuimos a Cinzetti's, un restaurante de comida fina italiana donde se puede comer todo lo que se quiera -- yo se, suena contradictorio, pero pasa lleno).

Ochenta y ocho: Número de teclas en el piano de Verónica. Nuestra niña continúa con sus lecciones y nos deleitó en su recital mas reciente con "Day's End" del compositor Dennis Alexander. Ella también es una estudiante modelo que ha sido inducida por segundo año consecutivo a la sociedad de honor "American Junior Honor Society".

Sinnúmero: Las bendiciones que ha recibido nuestra familia en el 2007. Estamos muy agradecidos a Dios por todos los pequeños (y no tan pequeños) milagros cotidianos, entre los cuales se encuentra su amistad.

Todos seis (Juan Pablo, Mónica, Francisco, Verónica, Pablo y Rafael) les deseamos una Feliz Navidad (que la paz del Señor abrigue sus corazones durante esta temporada de frío) y un próspero 2008 (¡otro gran numero!)

Merry Christmas 2007

Dear family and friends,
It's been a number of years since this González family has put together a Christmas newsletter, so we're a little out of practice. In trying to make sense of the seemingly chaotic blur this last year has been, we found it made the most sense to look at 2007 by the numbers.

Two: Is the number of teenagers in this household. Yes, with Verónica turning thirteen this year (Francisco is now fourteen); we have two (very good) teenagers at home. Two is also the number of visitors we had from Ecuador this summer. We were blessed with visits from JP's nephew, Juan Francisco (Great kid. He had a great time playing with Francisco, our son who is his age) and Mother-in-Law, Laurita (who now has a green card and can visit us any time she likes).

Three: Number of kids in new schools. Francisco is now in the ninth grade, which means he has moved on to high school. He is very happy attending Holy Family and has had a successful initial soccer season as part of the team. His grades are also showing signs of improvement. Pablo is in Pre-K at Saints Peter and Paul and Rafael has entered day care at Little Hearts two. Both of the younger ones are excited about their new gigs, the same cannot be said for the eldest (as a teenager we would not expect an emotion such as excitement for school from him anyway).

Four: Is the number of states we traveled to during summer vacation. The first was Nevada (refer to number fifteen for that story). We then took a road trip which took us through Colorado onto Utah's arches and great salt lake, finally rushing through Wyoming to get back and search for our lost dog (refer to number ten for that story)

Five: Business trips JP took this year (thank God for the dramatic decrease in travel). Nashville, Washington DC, San Jose, Charlotte and Atlanta were on the itinerary. The one anecdote I will share in this category comes from my visit to the FCC in February. I was there to meet with the legal advisors to the commissioners, who sit on the "eight floor" (which is the top level of a nine story building). As it turns out, the old FCC building had eight stories and in order to keep the nomenclature (and the top floor) when moving to the new building, the Chairman decided to name the first story of the building the "lobby", so the second story became the "first floor", and so on…

Ten: The number of days Diamond, our family dog (a boxer, of course), was lost after she ran away. Boy did she give us a scare. We searched every shelter in the area daily and posted signs within a three mile radius of the last spot she was seen. We received a call from a household living 2.8 miles from the park where she got lost. She lost nine pounds. We've tried asking her what she was thinking and what adventures she's had, however she won't say. We are very grateful for her return.

Fifteen: Years JP and Mónica have been married. During this time we've been blessed with four great children, good health and a happy home. For our Crystal anniversary we decided to get away from the kids and go to Las Vegas for four days. Lots of fun walking the strip, good eating and catching a few shows (not to mention attending and refusing a sales pitch for time-share property). So what kind of Crystal can you procure in Las Vegas? We ended-up buying some crystal glasses at the Coca Cola store (nothing says class like Coca Cola shot-glasses).

Thirty three: Is the number of miles (each way) Mónica has to drive to get to and from work. She has been with Qwest six and a half years and enjoys providing her brand of the Spirit of Service to the forty five or so customers she speaks to each day. Somehow, she manages to create a perfect balance between these duties and her role as the central axis of the home.

Forty: No, I'm not talking about the days and nights of the great flood, or the time Jesus spent in the desert before his public ministry. I'm talking about JP's age! Can you believe it? We had dinner with local friends and family for the occasion (Cinzetti's, a great all you can eat fine Italian restaurant -- yes I know it sounds contradictory but they manage to pack their arena-sized location every time we're out there).

Eighty eight: Number of keys in Verónica's piano. She continues to take lessons and delighted us at her latest recital by playing Day's End by Dennis Alexander. She also is an excellent student and has this year again been inducted to the American Junior Honor Society.

Countless: The number of blessings bestowed on this family in 2007. We are thankful to God for all the small (and not so small) miracles of everyday life and grateful for your friendship which is not least amongst these blessings.

The six of us (JP, Mónica, Francisco, Verónica, Pablo and Rafael) wish you a Merry Christmas (may the peace of our Lord warm your hearts in this cold weather) and a happy 2008 (another great number)!