A Full and Wonderful Year

Hello Everybody,

What a great year this has been with many blessing and an abundance of joy.
Among the many joys of 2009 was meeting a very special lady in January. Maria Cynthia Hearst, who was born in Rome, Italy, is the archetypal Italian woman. She is full of life and joy and cheer and loves to sing. She is the widow of the late William Randolf Hearst, Jr., and stepmother to Patty Hearst. She has had an extraordinary life, and I love hearing her many stories about her incredible and star-studded life with "Randy." We have a very special friendship and have a lot of fun together.
I had many house guests this year. The new guest suite with its 5th bathroom on the third floor have been a great success, with more then 15 house guests using it this year, among them a number of my European friends, including a German family of three friends who stayed 5 days, others from Ireland, Denmark, Italy, and the UK. Six of my 13 godchildren, as well as other friends, cousins and other extended family members. My Cousin, and godson Scotty from New York State, stayed the longest. He arrived, after graduating from Seton Hall Law School in NJ, and stayed for 3 weeks in July to study for the 3-day (longest) California Bar Exam. Being in the "tower," as he calls it, gave him all the privacy and quiet he needed to study nonstop for the Nation's most difficult bar exam. He passed it, by the way, with flying colors, and he and his wife Jennifer have chosen to make California their permanent home. She will be coming from Manhattan, where she is an architect, early in January. They will be settling in the unsurpassed San Francisco Bay Area. I'm very happy to have them close.
I enjoyed two wonderful foreign trips this year, One was a 19-day cruise to South America through the Panama Canal (3rd time) and then to four central American countries and finally the Mexican Riviera. It was one of the best cruises I have ever been on. I had the pleasure of accompanying three of my favorite ladies. My cousin Gloria, and my friend of 45 years George Havach's wife Ellen, whom I know for 35 years, and my friend Chris Margret's wife Dianne, whom I know for 9 years through bringing Chris into Masonry. Neither of the girls husbands wanted to go on the cruise, and so the wives went without them. As the philosophers say, "No marriages are healthier than those that allow spaces in their togetherness." The four of us had a really great and memorable time.
In November I took my 9th annual trip to my beloved Rome, where I have an ever-growing circle of friends, I now have a regular apartment where I have stayed for the past 3 years. The landlord and his family have become my friends, as well and give me an extremely good rate and bottles of wine when I leave.
Nothing beats Rome for food and endless amazing sites to see. The people, with more than 3,000 years of experience, are the most intuitive at instantly recognizing the genuine people from the phonies. I have several favorite restaurants where I eat every year. Every time I go after a year's absence the chefs and waiters all come out to see me, saying, "Luigi is here, Luigi is here!" They give me many complementary dishes and put before me many bottles of cordials and after-dinner drinks, all on the house. It is all like magic. I also attend high-quality concerts every night held in major basilicas and churches of classical performers from around the world. I just love Rome and cannot get enough of it. In fact, I'm looking forward to my 2010 trip. My friend Maria Hearst wants to join me then. She has a large family in and around Rome.
There were many more very special and memorable events that occurred in 2009, but these are the highlights. I bought another motorcycle, a high-tech 1550cc Harley-Davidson, and will likely sell my old one. I was invested as Marshall in San Francisco Lodge 120, one of the four Masonic lodges to which I belong. I was also knighted into the court of honor in the Scottish Rite.
May Christmas and the coming New Year bring blessings in abundance, good health, and prosperity to all of you and your families.