2025 has been a lot, especially for Liz, and she is glad we have nearly reached the end of it. But there were lots of good things throughout the year as well! Karin spent a week in Canazei in January working for LionAlpin, and she and Anders went back in March for a week of skiing as well.
In March, Liz headed to N. Carolina to stay for 4 weeks with Sarah and help with getting mom moved in to Sarah’s house. John arrived for the second 2 weeks of her stay and they managed to get mom’s house nearly completely emptied and most everything moved over. It was fun to be the 3 Slaughter kids together again though the visit was fraught with emotion and so much to do, including lots of sorting and purging and cleaning and organizing. Mom is now settled in her 3.5-room suite in Sarah’s roomy home and her townhouse is on the market.
In May Liz’s best friend from college days and roommate from MSU came with her family to stay, and see the best of Sweden. It was super fun to show Julie, Todd, Erin and Drew around Malmö and Lund and then send them up to Stockholm as well.
During May, Liz started getting sick and it got worse and worse, until she was finally hospitalized in mid-June and then diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, after nearly 6 weeks of not knowing what was wrong. She spent a week in the hospital and then had sick leave as well. Her medical team at Malmö hospital was great and her treatment was thorough and, most importantly, worked. All of her summer vacation turned into sick leave, so it was a quiet summer at home recuperating. Unfortunately, she wasn’t quite done with health issues, even after the colitis was under control as one of the side effects that began in August was severe hair loss and she lost most of her hair in the space of 2 months and is still dealing with the aftermath. Thankfully, now, at the end of the year, it appears that her hair is starting to return, so it will be a slow wait until it has grown back in again. She’s now also facing cataract surgery in both eyes, possibly next year. Ugh!
During the same time period, Liz’s sister was diagnosed with an aggressive cancerous tumor, but the surgery to remove it went really well and her doctors are quite certain they got it all. Scary times for both sisters. 🙁
Anders is busy with work, still at Tetra Pak, traveling many weeks of the year around Sweden for various customers, and tinkering with the MG when he is home. He’s starting to look forward to retirement! He and a friend spent 10 days hiking up north in Sweden in September and now are starting to plan a hiking trip next fall to Nepal.
Liz is busy at work, now that she’s healthy again, still at Axis, and still involved on the board of AIC Malmö. Despite the long illness and recovery period, she managed to see a lot of shows this year with her friends Debbie and Camilla, including Joyride, Much Ado About Nothing, Figaro’s Wedding, John Cleese (with Anders), Chicago, and Mozart’s Requiem.
Martin and Theo moved in to a new apartment in the spring, that Theo and his parents bought, a really nice walkup more centrally located in Malmö. Martin is still working at Folk in Lund and Theo at Brewdog, and enjoying organizing D&D games with their friends, and traveling to Gävle to visit Theo’s family. He and Theo also spent a week in Corfu in June!
Karin spent the summer working again at Vaganza Beachgarden in Malmö as well as Åben brewery and restaurant in Copenhagen and started dating Essie in the late summer. She was accepted to Danmarks medie- og journalisthøjskole in the fall and has now embarked on a 3-year university program for Media Production and Project Management…IN DANISH!
We are heading stateside for the Christmas holidays and will be staying with mom and Sarah’s family for a 10-day visit. It will be the first time Martin and Anders have been back to the US since well before (Anders) and at the very end of (Martin) the pandemic!
We wish you a lovely holiday season, and hope, as always, that it is filled with friends, family, laughter, and love.
Mood: relaxed
Music: Gladys Knight & The Pips—Do You Hear What I Hear