2025 Highlights
Since this picture of all twelve members of our family was taken last Christmas, we have enjoyed a year full of adventures, achievements, and improvements. During the first three months, Steve finished his 2-year term as President of Quail Ridge Property Owners and I dedicated myself to tutoring second graders at Crosspointe School and playing the piano for the Quail Ridge Chorus.
In April, Steve and I met Lilli and Violet in San Francisco for a 6-day visit with Joe Simmons, Laurie Porter, Alyce and Dave Boster. Lilli stayed for a conference in SanFran, while I accompanied Violet back to Cambridge for two lovely spring days of track practice for Violet and visiting favorite haunts for me. From there I went on to meet friends in Washington DC. On April 27 our grandson Stephen got his Eagle Scout Award in Austin. His brother Thomas is already working on his.
In June we joined Lilli and Violet on a safari in Kenya that our cousin Jay had organized. There were twenty of us–all eleven of the Collins family, plus five Colacos, good friends from Charlotte, and we four. It was a lively, congenial group, as you can see in Kenya Safari.
What a joy it was to see and learn about the Big Five–elephants, lions, rhinoceros, African buffalos, and leopards, PLUS elegant giraffes, lithe zebras, cunning monkeys, and impressive impalas! The Rift Valley, which I had visited with Kate Richards in Tanzania in 2019, still represents the Garden of Eden to me.
My friend Marjo and I took a tour of the Baltic Sea for two weeks in July. Here we are on our small ship in Tallinn, Estonia. Come along with us to 4 countries in Baltic Sea 1 and to 3 more in Baltic Sea 2.
In early August I made my way from Stockholm, Sweden to Dornoch, Scotland, where Steve was entertaining son David and grandson Stephen. Soon more visitors arrived: Florentine Friedrich from London, Paul and Rebecca Richards from Suffolk, and Justin Muir from Surrey. We enjoyed showing them all why we think Dornoch is such a special place.
Steve flew to England for more golf with friends in September, while I got new cataract-free lenses for my eyes. New knee last year, new eyes this year–I’m good to go. Most recently we celebrated Thanksgiving with David’s family, just an hour away in Coral Gables. It was the tenth time they have hosted feasts for large groups of family and friends and they’re really a good team. All the food and drinks were delicious (Nina and I contributed David’s favorite pumpkin pie). We enjoyed hearing about Nina’s soccer triumphs and taking Margot to the Frost Museum and Zoo Miami.
For Christmas, all 12 of our family will convene for three days in Charlotte NC, where cousins Jay and Maxann Collins are another great team for entertaining lots of people. The Collins-Smith Christmas tradition began about 75 years ago. With the Collins’ eleven and our twelve, plus more cousins, there may be 30 of us in Charlotte this year. Luckily, our friends Allene and Jim Cooley live nearby and let us care for their house while they celebrate elsewhere. We wish everyone a joyous Christmas and many happy times in 2026.
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