Cohen family yearly recap, 2022

Happy New Year Family and Friends, 

 Welcome (a bit belatedly) to 2023! I hope you all are happy and healthy. Our year has been filled with lots of new adventures. 

 Brian and I started our traveling this past year by visiting Florida in February. We began to look at various communities on the west coast of Florida to see where we might like to snowbird, as well as seeing some friends while we were there. 

  This year will be looking at the east coast of Florida. Brian really doesn’t like the cold and wants to be somewhere warm during the NY winter months. I love just being outdoors. It can be warm or cold it doesn’t matter to me (though as it has been pointed out, it is much easier and nicer to be outside when it’s warm!)*. 

*(in the parentheses are for the most part the editor, Brian, chiming in when necessary) 

  In April was my sister Lauren’s 50th birthday, and Mom, Susan, Lauren, and I celebrated that with a weekend in NYC. We had so many laughs and good times. 

  April was a bit of a road trip was visiting nieces and close family friends kids at their colleges. We started in Massachusetts to visit our niece Ali at Western New England University. Then through Albany, and onto Oneonta to visit close family friends Lyz and Michael Mortati and their “significant others” (which on April 19th, got about a half foot of snow the day we arrived), then to Rochester to visit our godson Ben Lapidus (who just graduated and is living and working in Charlotte), and also Nick DiCesare, the son of our friends and neighbors. Then a stop in Gettysburg to head to Washington D.C. so Brian could play in a Backgammon tournament, while I explored D.C. on my own. It was a lot of driving, yet lots of fun. 

  In June we took our nieces Sami, Ali, and Maggie to Philadelphia. We saw and did the usual things there (along with comparing various cheesesteaks), but in general it was just nice to have quality time with them! 

In Philly with Maggie, Sami, and Ali (note, when viewed from the American Jewish Museum side, it reads quite appropriately as OY!)

  Summer was then upon us. Brian and I were away for three weeks in Europe. We started in Milan for a couple of days, did a day trip to a cute town in Switzerland (Lugano) as well as to Lake Como. Yes, George Clooney waved from his villa as we passed by (NOT). Then off to other towns in Italy - Modena, and Bologna. In Bologna we met up with the entire Gray clan to take a Greek Cruise. This was Mom’s trip for the family this year. It is becoming more and more of a challenge to get everyone one together. The cruise was amazing. We went to Montenegro, Athens, Corfu, and other islands. After a week, we said goodbye to the family. Brian and I stayed on the ship and did another cruise to Croatia and more Greek Islands. All and all it was a wonderful experience. 

(Brian, Debbie, and Rebecca with the Dassatti clan in Europe)

  August was a long weekend to upstate New York, with Amanda, Rebecca, and their boyfriends for Lyz Mortati’s wedding to Alex. A great ceremony and little getaway for us (and an opportunity where “the girls” allowed Dad to dance with them as well).

(Aaron, Rebecca, Brian, Debbie, Amanda, and Justin)

  October was another trip, this time to Southern California. Brian had a work trip and I tagged along. It was so much fun. The hotel had bikes, so while Brian was in meetings I was toodleing (not really a word, but the word seems to work) along on the Pacific Coast Hwy for hours. It was awesome! We also stayed with Brian’s long-time friend Bruce and his wife Alex in L.A. and they showed us a wonderful time. In addition, we had dinner with Brian’s cousins Victor and Jono and their families one night. Many laughs were had, I just wished they lived closer to us. They are all wonderful people and it was great to see them. 

  Also in October there was another “work event” for Brian in NYC. This company rents out the entire Lincoln Center complex and has surprise guests to perform during lunch and at the end of the conference. You sign up without knowing who will be performing. During lunch we saw an hour of the Michael Jackson show, which is performing on Broadway. The company bought the cast to us at Lincoln Center. The BEST was the guest at the end of the conference. One of my favorite artists Bruno Mars!! I was thrilled. I danced the entire time. However, when you are there with a lot of straight-laced investment people they are DULL!! (Wow, someone is a bit judgmental there) No-one else was having a better time than me (true, but that seems like most of the time anyway 😉). Heck, I didn’t care at 57, I danced my way out of the conference. I can’t wait to go again next year!! Maybe some wives of Brian’s co-workers will go with me. They would make it lots of fun! (and at least I would not be the only one among the thousands to be slightly embarrassed) 

  Right after Christmas, we had a wonderful surprise when my cousin Jackie came to NYC to visit during the holiday break. She and her family live in Australia so we rarely see them. She came with her husband Lachlan and their two daughters Ella and Chloe. The entire Gray clan met them at a bar in NYC one afternoon. It was so great to see them. We laughed and laughed and caught up on their lives. I hope to see them again soon. 

                                              (Susan, Lauren, Jackie, and Debbie)

  On the home front, since Amanda and Rebecca had moved out, we enjoyed being “empty nesters”. Luckily, we truly enjoy each other’s company (I will second that), and it is much easier when it’s just the two of us for dinners, etc. 

  Rebecca’s boyfriend Aaron graduated from UConn this past May and works remotely in a 16 month rotational program at Sun Life Insurance company. Rebecca works for Ipsos and was recently promoted to be an associate consultant, and also works remotely. Rebecca still had her apartment in the city, but the lease was coming up and Aaron needed a place to go to. Rebecca, as she has traveling in her blood, decided this would be a great opportunity to travel around and as long as they had Wi-Fi, could work from anywhere. However, they of course needed a “home base” to use in between their travels. What to do?? 

  Goodbye to us as empty nesters, and hello to having Rebecca come back, along with her boyfriend Aaron. It actually has been really nice. Aaron has the middle room as his own and works out of Amanda’s (old) room and Rebecca works out of the dining room when they are here. Aaron is great to be around and loves sports so Brian is really happy about that (he’s not a Mets or Jets fan, but that’s okay since he is not obnoxious about it, and better for him that he doesn’t have to suffer). Rebecca is Rebecca and somehow Aaron puts up with all her energy. They have traveled every month and it is great to hear about all their adventures. 

  Amanda and her boyfriend Justin are doing well in Stony Brook. In the fall they bought a beautiful dog and named her Lucy. She has a lot of energy and very cute. Amanda continues to work hard at Stony Brook, and has been taking a few courses too, and doing well. Justin works at the AMC theater and enjoys his job there. 

  Brian and I are the same (as well as our “third child”, our dog Buddy). Work is good for both of us, and Brian enjoys playing backgammon weekly, and occasionally goes to larger tournaments for fun. 

(Photographic evidence of sisterly love!!)

(Amanda, Rebecca, Deb, and Mom/Grandma Carol)

  We just keep laughing and enjoying life. We don’t take life too seriously (at least not Deb). Brian does the planning and worrying if needed for us (yes, that is too true)! As I get older, I care less about the little things and more about my relationships with family and friends. When you are younger you are just trying to survive adulthood. Been there, done that. Now I am reverting back to being a kid with no worries - except for the big stuff like life and death (which reminds me – “Besides that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?”) 

  I will leave you now with a quote I have on my computer at work:

“Surround yourself with people who make you happy. People who make you laugh, who help you when your in need. People who would never take advantage of you. People who genuinely care. They are the ones worth keeping in you life. Everyone else is just passing through.” 

Love, Debbie (and Brian)