Greetings from Melbourne!
It’s been two years since we’ve given you an update, and there are a few changes in that time.
First, in September 2023, Glenn and Nancy purchased and moved into a semi-detached home a few kilometres from their rental apartment. Instead of living in the centre of town, we now live in a leafy green neighbourhood with many great amenities and good public transport options. We’re still able to live comfortably without owning a car, though we occasionally use a car share parked on our block.
Second, in December, Nik’s assistance dog, Booth, passed away. Six months earlier, we were shocked when the assistance dog organisation we’d been working with for over a year closed up shop just weeks before Nik was to get a new dog. Fortunately, we had no money invested with them, but it meant that we needed to start over with another organisation. This one is based in Melbourne, which made it much easier to work with them, and in May, Boe became a partner to Nik. He’s an Australian Shepherd with a bouncy, joyous personality and clearly adores Nik.
The five months Nik spent without a dog were rough, but with Boe’s assistance, they’re back in classes, now at the University of Melbourne. They’ve also shifted from student accommodation to an apartment on the same city block. More space, their own kitchen and laundry facilities, and a large balcony on which to raise a variety of plants have made it a good change.
During the holiday season of 2023, Glenn & Nancy provided respite care for a Seeing Eye Dog who is a member of the breeding team. Noah (now 4 years old) really seemed to enjoy having a companion, so in March, they welcomed Charlie to the household. He’ll be 2 in February and likely will be part of the breeding program for about three years. We take care of him according to Seeing Eye Dog’s guidelines (like when we were raising Noah), participate in some training sessions, and take him in to do his breeding duties when called. He could be recalled to work as a SED at any point, and once his breeding stint is over, he could be put to work or released for adoption. In the meantime, we’re all enjoying his company.
Glenn remains on the faculty of Melbourne Business School and director of its Centre for Sustainability and Business. In addition to teaching in the various MBA programs the school offers, he’s taught a few different cohorts of civil servants from the Malaysian state of Sarawak. This has been a combination of online and in-person sessions, the latter held in Kuala Lumpur. We are both looking forward to the time he gets to teach in Kuching, the capital of Sarawak (on the island of Borneo, not in peninsular Malaysia) so that we can explore somewhere new.
Nancy has been able to continue her paper crafting business, with her customers following her to the new location without issue. In addition to holding 1 to 2 classes per month, she’s offering two stamp camp weekends per year, where participants attend for two full crafting days. She finds it a nice challenge to come up with both a variety of projects to fill the weekend and a menu to feed everyone. The other innovation that has occurred is the addition of video tutorials for each class that anyone who cannot attend in person can purchase.
Andrew and Emma still live in Castle Rock, Colorado. Both now work for Deca Technologies and share a home office, though they get flown to Phoenix a few times a year for meetings at the company’s office. They spend much of their weekends enjoying outdoor pursuits, including hiking, kayaking and fishing.
Nancy enjoyed getting a taste of their life during a brief stopover during her month-long visit to the USA in October-November.
But first she visited her brother, Eric, and sister-in-law, Bea, in Seattle, enjoying the gorgeous weather and walks in the city and the mountains.
After Colorado was a brief stop for Nancy’s 35th reunion at Earlham College. Many things have changed both on campus and in Richmond, Indiana, but the spirit of each seems to have remained the same.
Then it was on to Maryland/Washington, D.C. to visit the parents and various friends. Despite coming down with Influenza A and passing it to Mom, everyone had a good visit and it was nice to catch up with everyone.
We hope all is going well in your world, and would love to hear from you. Even better, come visit!
Nancy nhoetker@mac.com
Glenn ghoetker@me.com
Nik rockon516@gmail.com
Andrew ahoetker@me.com
New address:
1/1B Westbourne Road
Kensington, Victoria 3031
Australia