1998 greeting

It seems to be a thousand years since we sent the last greeting to you. 1997 was such a big year paving some changes in 1998 for the So & Ho clan in St. Louis.	上回寄出請安信到今天好像已經一千年了。事情變化不少。一九九七年的確是一個大的年，因為它為一九九八年的聖路易蘇何族大事鋪路。
Tina became a Boeing employee without doing anything. The McDonnell-Douglas she served in the past 18 years went through a friendly merger with Boeing. She resumes the responsibility of managing the facility of the Church building. In early May she has completed a successful campaign to clean up and fix up the yard of the church. She picked up a new task of supporting the young adult fellowship by attending and hosting their activities while continuing the responsibility of directing the church choir. She did see Tony in Taipei, December 1997.				麗津不費吹灰之力就變成波音公司的員工。原來她服務十八年的麥道公司與波音牽手合併了。在教會，她負責管理禮拜堂硬體設施；五月初成功地完成一次會友總動員的戶外大整理；除了繼續指揮教會聖歌隊之外，她也投入支援社青團契的活動。她在九七年底曾去看在台北的希三。
A-leng has been responsible for the pulpit management in addition to the weekly singing in the choir. She worked full-heartily with Tina in supporting the young adult fellowship. Her orchids always bloom for four months, her garden in the front yard is the most fascinating one in the subdivision. Last year, She fell in love with a house and almost moved over. A-leng plans to join Fawn before Fawn gives birth to the second child to support the burden of taking care of two youngsters. After the move, A-leng will be relieved from the daily noisy honking from the neighbor’s driveway.		怡玲在教會裡負責聖壇的管理，並積極參加聖歌隊。她也與麗津合作支援社青團契的活動，不遺餘力。她種的蘭花一年可開四個月，夏天裡前院的花是全社區最引人入勝的。去年她又愛上另一個新房子差一點就搬過去。怡玲計畫在芳芳生下第二個孩子前搬去與女兒同住，就近支援照料兩個孫兒。以後她就可以永遠避開每天早上從鄰居車道來的擾人喇叭聲了。
Fawn attends the subdivision meeting for the Lin’s family with enthusiasm. She is going to deliver her second child this summer. For her, the most exciting tours was the impromptus visit to her mother’s home for shelter in St. Louis, forced by power failure caused by heavy snow storm. She also visited relatives in Taiwan for a visit that Little Tiffany could remember.			芳芳代表林家積極參與鄰里大會。預計在今年夏天增添第二個女兒。最驚心動魄的一次旅行是在去年冬天。由於下大雪引起大停電，被迫「疏開」到聖路易的娘家尋求庇護。她也回台灣走一趟，帶給「粉圓仔」一個「記憶之旅」。
Tiffany, 4 1/2, 40 pounds, speaks fluent Taiwanese without American accent, picked up a lot of new expression and talked like an adult lately. She likes to say, “let’s see”. She got into drawing so heavily that her mother could not supply paper and pencil quick enough for her hundreds of drawing per day appetite. She has consumed two Magna Doodle boards already. Fawn admitted that sometimes Tiffany could draw better than what the mother could.		栩婷（粉圓仔）四歲半，40磅，說純正的台灣話，最近多學了不少新的詞彙，說話越來越像大人。她會打太極拳似的說「再看看」。一年來，她嚴重地陷入畫圖癮。她母親已經無法應付每天上百張畫的紙與筆。她已經用壞兩塊隨畫隨擦的磁鐵畫版。芳芳甚至承認粉圓仔的畫功已經青出於藍了。
Tony quit the teaching/administrative job at the Chang-jung University. His planning for taking an ulcer-leave did not work out. 5 days after leaving Chang-jung, he reported to the Garden of Hope Foundation in Taipei and jumped into a busy schedule helping with services for the sexually abused in Taiwan. He seems to enjoy every aspect of the Foundation, including management, direct services, and other activities. He returned St. Louis home in June, 1997, and the spring of 1998. During the month of April, 1998 he visited the Children Assessment Center in Houston. For four weeks he enjoyed the hospitality of Tina’s cousin (daughter of her mother’s 2nd sister) Le-hua and her husband (Dr. Liu). The life was so enjoyable with the Liu’s in Houston that he did gained some weight and was engraved with life-time memory.		希三辭去長榮管理學院的教書兼行政工作。本來想休息一陣子讓胃潰瘍緩和一下，結果離開長榮五天後就到台北向勵馨基金會報到，跳入一個為受性侵害者服務的忙亂生活週期裡去了。他似乎有些喜歡在基金會牽涉到管理、直接服務以及其他許多瑣碎、「有的無的」工作內容。他曾在九七年六月、九八年春天回聖路易家享受天倫之樂。四月裡他代表勵馨基金會考察休斯頓的兒童性侵害處置中心，受到麗津的表姊（二姨的女兒）麗華姊及姊夫的熱誠接待，不愁吃住四個星期之久。體重增加不少，終身難忘。