Merry Christmas, all. It's been so wonderful to be together--celebrating Midnight Mass, going to Waffle House after, having quiet time painting and in Adoration, and being tourists in our hometown. Below, I copy my Christmas letter.
What a year! So many blessings! It has been a great joy to have Dagny and Ian living just 15 minutes away from us and seeing them not just for Sunday Mass but also at choir practice. I’ve had the added pleasure of singing with Dagny in Charleston Sound Chorus. What fun it was to go together to compete at regionals and bring home three medals: 1st place small chorus, 5th place overall, and most-improved chorus! You can watch and listen to our performance here: https://youtu.be/f1O0yuC8VxQ?t=8561 [at 2:22] We made our debut at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in our hometown and have been invited to perform locally at other venues. As our director says: “It’s fun to be good.” We are growing and will compete as a mid-sized chorus in 2026. Dagny will not be joining us—she’s growing a baby boy and he’s due to arrive in early January!
But wait, there’s more! Max and his lovely fiancée, Laura, are also expecting a baby; she’ll arrive in late March!!! Their parish priest in DC is preparing them for Holy Matrimony. Max continues to work hard (promoted to Exec VP) and travel lots and is becoming a family man, getting a spacious apartment on Capitol Hill for his growing family. We had the great pleasure of visiting them this fall, seeing the places they hang out at and running into their friends while on a walk or at the marketplace. They dearly love DC, but we keep pitching the delights of Charleston.
At the beginning of this year, I attended the Catholic Writers Conference Online—it was exactly what I needed to get back into writing after a busy Christmas season with family and friends for Dagny and Ian’s nuptials. And in another month, I’ll offer a workshop on Writing for Hire at the same conference. It’s been wonderful to work on new stories and poems, make new writing friends who share the faith. Kiki Latimer and I had a lovely conversation on her podcast Catholic Bookworm: Vijaya Bodach on her novel Bound. I was also invited to give my testimony on The Journey Home - Catholic Conversion Stories on EWTN (it hasn’t yet aired but I post the link for you to peruse many stories). I’ve enjoyed listening to this program for many years, so it was a great honor to share my Love Story.
This summer, Michael and the kids had a family reunion in WA. What joy to meet new family members. Cousin Naomi and Noa have a sweet baby girl Nadia and another on the way. Cousin Kelsey and Peter welcomed baby Luka. I started painting. Growing up in India, I didn’t even have colored pencils or extra paper—I was routinely punished for drawing pictures and patterns in the margins of my notebooks—so imagine my pleasure at having all the paper and colors to play with. I still remember my father bringing a ballpoint pen with four colors and what fun we had with it.
Sadly, my 97-year-old father, Clement Jatindrakumar Khisty, died on Dec. 10th after a relatively short period of becoming completely disabled. He’s had a long and storied life—I’ve read drafts of his memoirs—and I was grateful to have had the chance to visit him and his wife Lena, who loved him best. My greatest sorrow is not knowing him and loving him as I would’ve liked here on earth. But I pray we will meet in heaven, know one another in our perfection, in the company of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and all the saints. We also mourn the loss of Michael’s aunt Shirley, our sister-in-law Heather, and my cousin Sangeeta’s dear husband Sam. May they all rest in the loving and merciful arms of our Lord Jesus.
Michael continues to work at Boeing, grow vegetables, and brew beer, but is looking forward to being a full-time Grandpa! He’s already thinking of homeschooling—the first lesson might be on fermentation :) We are happy to be entering a new chapter in our lives and grateful that you are in ours. I close with love and prayers for a Blessed and Merry Christmas to you and all yours, and a happy, healthful New Year!
Please stay in touch--we appreciate all the cards, pictures, and letters.
My dear friend, Evelyn Christensen passed away this fall. She was a mathematician, a teacher, a writer, a puzzle-creator extraordinaire, a wife, a mother, a grandmother, who loved our Lord Jesus. We met through the now-defunct Blueboards that we moderated and shared so many stories over the years. I always wanted her to write a memoir. Here's her obituary. She maintained a page: Resources for Writers and was so very generous with her time and talents. I had the chance to meet her when we were moving from WA to SC 15 years ago. We had such a good time visiting, making music, and taking a walk around her neighborhood. I was looking through my album and so sad to discover I didn't have a picture of her amidst the flowers, rocks, and butterflies. But this is how I remember her, always with a smile. My kids enjoyed her stories very much. 
