Barnes Family Christmas Letter 2019
The BarnesKids are now ages 28-to-39, and many of you have watched them grow up in these pages, but to a parent, they will always be “kids.” Here is this year’s what’s been going on.
Sebastian and Sandy: This was a transformative year for Sebastian, still benefiting after 15 years from his University of Miami Computer Science degree. (He is a big Hurricane fan!) As a consulting “strategist” for a technology firm, he enjoys the comfort of his home office in Ft. Lauderdale, while travels can take a minute, or cover a thousand miles, depending on client needs. He’s been with the firm for three years and continues to achieve high accolades. In the off-work time, his passion is for writing. He has republished the Willow Tree’s Gift. It is young-adult fiction with new illustrations and improved formatting, a story of a little mouse doll that comes to life, (think Velveteen Rabbit). You can learn more from his website, www.moralvignette.com/gift ). What was most memorable this year, however, is that Sandy, his girlfriend of three years, said “Yes” to the question, and is now his fiancée. They designed a stunning sapphire engagement ring, and for the proposal he recreated the moment in the local brunch restaurant where they first met, The Foxy Brown in Ft. Lauderdale. A multitude was there for the big surprise, and skyped in were her relatives from afar. They will wed in April.
Thomas loved working at the Marine Corps Trademark Office at Quantico, but once he passed the Maryland Bar, job opportunities expanded. He was one of over 200 pursuing a position with the Department of Veteran Affairs in the Office of the General Counsel. After interviews, the number narrowed down, and then again, until 20 were left. A disheartening email advised he had not been chosen, but he thought he interviewed well and with his former-Marine status, was a good candidate. So, he called the man in charge to see what had happened, a problem with his interview or a too-thin resume? The top man was surprised and told Tom no one had yet been chosen. Those messages had gone out in error. It turned out that he was the only one to make such a follow-up effort, and ended as one of the five hired. A great investigation!
The office represents the Secretary of Veterans Affairs before the Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims, when a veteran challenges a decision. Initially this worried Tom, because he didn’t feel comfortable arguing against a fellow veteran. But the job is actually to assess a case and evaluate the veteran’s position, then fast-track whatever is needed to get the help they need. Only when a veteran asks for something they’re not entitled to, does he have to fight them. So, he is a solicitor at the U.S. Appellate Court level, a “dream job.”
The other big news comes by way of Thomas fixing the transient status he has had since separating from the Corps a dozen years ago, as well as cutting back on his four-hour roundtrip commute from Woodbridge, VA. He found a nice townhouse in Fairfax, a mere two miles as the crow flies from his childhood home. It's a quiet street with everything he needs nearby, and renovations are planned. Some heavy-duty tools are on Santa’s list. Thomas also made strides in managing his own mental health, which he’s been working on since coming home from the Middle East in 2013. Six years of military service and support, two-and-a-half of which were spent in warzones, left their mark. He’s taken charge in his recovery, including his loyal, but retired, ESA (Emotional Support Animal), Weber. The black lab gets to do what he loves best – sleep, eat treats, and rest his head on Tom's leg while they watch TV after a long day's work. Last, for Thomas, one of his 6th Marine Regiment brethren passed away in August, not in battle or with depression, but while living life fully. Ben Wilkerson was teaching parachute jumping in Sweden when the old plane just plummeted to the ground. Dozens gathered in Southfield, MI, with many Marines coming great distances to honor a fallen hero. It’s what they do, and I was proud to be there.
Gavin, up in Orlando, continues to lead the development of the ONYX Exoskeleton for the Lockheed Martin's Exoskeleton Technologies Program. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIQJKePalto) It was a challenging year, with long hours and lots of travel to push the technology forward, but ultimately, he and his team made great advances to keep soldiers safe. Along the way, he took a well-deserved break on an Alaskan Cruise where he reveled in nature with hikes, enormous glaciers, and a magnificent pod of whales! Adopted daughter, Alexis, continues the pursuit of her A.S. degree in Fire Science at Valencia College with straight As. This summer, she completed the “Minimum Standards Course,” which consists of the requisite training and evaluation to become a Firefighter in Florida. Now 21, Gavin is proud of her continued growth.
Natalia, this year, finally went from part-time spin coach to full-time fitness coach and returned to school for her Physical Therapy degree. She couldn't be happier with her new career path. She left her job as a secretary and began working as a trainer at ACAC (Atlantic Coast Athletic Clubs) in Baltimore. She still teaches five spin classes a week while taking on clients, as well as two support groups for those diagnosed with pre-diabetes. Her experience fitting together the puzzle of her own body and capabilities has helped her enormously in assisting others to do the same. As she says, "There are stressful days, but not a single bad day." She spent the year completing in races in her shiny new Motion Composite wheelchair and now has two 10Ks, three 5Ks, two half-marathons, and a full marathon under her belt. (You should know that if you were born with spina bifida in 1989, none of this was foreseen in your future—but this is Natalia!)
She finished this year’s Baltimore Marathon 15 minutes faster than last year and, again, was the only participant in a regular chair to do it! In light of all her athleticism efforts she applied for the Spina Bifida Foundation's Grand Canyon Adventure trip. Six wheelchair participants go to the canyon each year for a 10-mile trail run through the south rim and—drum roll!—this year Natalia will be one of them! She is currently raising funds for the SBA to continue their invaluable research. Her goal is $5000 before her trip in May but she is hoping to raise as much as possible for the foundation. If you are interested in donating to her cause you can find her donation page, as well as training updates, at: https://www.sbevents.org/participant/14091
Ariel, this year took a step further into the food industry in NYC and became General Manager of a successful restaurant and bar in the Lower East Side, Scarr’s Pizza. It’s been open three years and is about to grow. She flew to Los Angeles to scout a new location and wouldn’t hate returning to her Southern California roots. She’s had essays published in food magazines as Compound Butter and Peddler Journal. She was featured in an episode of The House Specials, a podcast created by Peddler Journal. The editor took a liking to her essay about childhood lunches and turned it into an interview. (Episode 5, “Longing, with Ariel Barnes,” if you’d like to listen: https://www.peddlerjournal.com/episode-5-longing-ariel-barnes)
She spends most mornings swimming laps in a Tribeca pool, and short, but great escapes from The City were to Beacon and Hudson. Oh, right, and she went to Mexico, too. She took a day trip to the Mass Museum of Contemporary Art, (4-hrs one way!), with her best friend, Jenna, and her daughter, Pepper. She is pleased to have been bestowed the title of “Auntie Ariel.” (Above, Pepper’s 5th B-day)
Wayne: Work and play this year continued to be astonishing. This comes from being retired-in-name-only. Name your own hours and the weeks to work, if work you must.
Investigations, once again, covered a litany of narcissist-predators making-my-day with their predictable and very bad behavior, enabling me to save many a client from their clutches. Sadly, I had been inadvertently schooled in this personality disorder far too close to home, but have turned it into a benefit for clients whose nemeses always double-down, even when they are so in the wrong. They come in all variations, wives, girlfriends, husbands, bosses, adult children, siblings, who all need to be brought to heel. Meanwhile there is also profit in profiling, when new hirees are found to have long rap sheets—just don’t hire them as housekeepers—and that potential CFO who is an addicted online gambler—maybe fix that situation, too. Lord help the executives who don’t chose to have background investigations conducted. And you never know when you might discover an actual spy from the Cold War—from the other side—looking for work in your high-tech company.
Expertise in verifying and analyzing signatures has also turned profitable, revealing personality traits most would not believe. Again, the forgers double down until they are wearing handcuffs. Enough attorneys, mediators and judges have suggested I write a book on signatures, and so I am, now halfway through. Working title: Signatures, You Have No Idea What They Reveal! (So, offer a suggestion for another title!
As for my manuscript, A Spy In The FBI, it is my story of working the undercover case to recruit a Russian who could identify the infamous traitor, Robert Hanssen. The FBI’s Prepublication Review Unit, which usually takes 30 days to review manuscripts, held mine among its cobwebs for a full three years! Even with no techno-crypto-look-down-satellite anything, they felt I was giving the Russians a How-To book on how “we” catch spies. But my chapters could more aptly be in a college Psych 101 course, with not one “Bureau source or method” displayed for the bad guys. My publisher’s lawyers will just have to duke it out with an already suffering FBIHQ.
As a tangent from this vignette, I had a bucket-list item I needed to cross off. For years I wanted to find a Romanian Intelligence Officer who I had the good fortune to meet in the 1970s, and we became friends. I traveled a great distance—to somewhere in the U.S.A.—finally to visit him and meet his children and grandchildren. I told them their father and grandfather’s story, which most had not known. He was a hero who enabled them, now, to be living in freedom.
Travels with Cynthia were the highlights. She is a National Park aficionado, this year adding nearly a dozen to her score. The Dakotas and Wyoming covered Mt. Rushmore and Devils Tower. But if you want to feel the most wilderness you ever will, go to North Dakota’s Teddy Roosevelt NP, the North Unit, where the elks at dusk whistle in the distance, and their antlers crash against each other, battling for territory and the fair does in the herd.
Next was Northern California, a visit with Chestnut cousins, Paul and Marijane, and fellow new FBI agent from 1971, Barry Hatfield and wife Katy. Then on to Sam Oryn’s Bar Mitzvah. He’s Cynthia’s “former step-grandson.” As the ceremony proceeded, so did the Kincade Fire, blasting over the hill. A mandatory evacuation ensued, but not before Sam recited the blessings. Then more National Parks: Redwood, Lassen Volcanic, and Oregon’s Crater Lake—wind-chill of 0°!
Cynthia’s grandsons, Jacob, one, and Dylan, nearly four, have sprouted with good health and looks. She takes the grandma routes to Denver and Northern VA, with yours truly chauffeuring.
We continue to be very active with butterflies, quarterly counts and taking photos.
This year’s birthday was celebrated at LA Fitness. A Personal Trainer passing by snapped this photo of me, labeled, “Something To Do At 72!” (You have to pick parents with good DNA!)
And from Grand Rapids, SD, the only photo of Thomas Jefferson wearing an FBI baseball cap.
An addendum from 2018 must end this edition of the Barnes Christmas letter because last year I neglected to mention participating as a partner/assistant on the September 2018 Honor Flight. Hundreds of World War II and Korean War veterans from all across the U.S. were flown to our Nation’s Capital to experience the memorials built in their honor. For many from the hinterland, now in their nineties, it was their first trip, ever, to Washington, D.C. The honor was mine….
The Merriest Christmas and Hanukkah to all!
Ariel, Natalia, Gavin, Sebastian, Thomas, Wayne & Cynthia