2020 Hwang Newsletter

Dear Friends,
Although 2020 has been a year unlike any other, we are blessed to be able to take pause and reflect on each of our highlights to share with all of our loved ones at this holy time of year. For Wai Chin, the 2020 year opened with a big celebration of her 70th birthday, at one of her favourite Chinese restaurants with many close friends and family members. The children and grandchildren gave speeches and sang songs, and Pauline arranged a video tribute with two players from Wai Chin’s favorite sports team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Wai Chin particularly enjoyed performing a duet of “Winter Wonderland” together with Fr. Terry Galagher to cap off a most enjoyable evening. Sadly, a few months later, Wai Chin’s father, Weng Yup Hooi, passed away peacefully on May 22, at the age of 101½ years, with Wai Chin by his side, singing his favorite songs. The immediate family had a small but meaningful funeral service for him, with relatives from around the world joining in virtually via livestream. With her father's passing, another chapter in the life of the Hooi Family has ended. Wai Chin is still grateful to have her elder sister Wai Ming and her younger brother, Mun Cheoge, in her life, together with their spouses and Cheoge’s two healthy adult children. Wai Chin is thriving as a grandmother to 7 grandchildren, and enjoys regular (though not always smooth!) video chats with her 5 daughters. 

Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, Paul was able to travel to New Hampshire for the annual EAEEG meeting, where he delivered a belated eulogy for close friend and mentor, Dr. Fred Andermann. While the 2020 year has been challenging to navigate since March, Paul is grateful for the ability to enjoy some take-out dining in Toronto, as well as extended time spent in the country in Minden attending Mass and tending to maintenance issues at their second home. He is getting accustomed to virtual celebrations (46th wedding anniversary, birthdays, and now Christmas), but has been reflecting during the preparation season of Advent on the many reasons to have hope heading into 2021, with several vaccines being readied for distribution. The Advent season has brought a refreshed daily routine for Paul and Wai Chin, with Mass at dawn, prayers at night, along with email and social media and video chatting with their family and friends. In a time of uncertainty, having stable anchors for Advent with a clear expectation for Christmas provides much needed stability and comfort in their lives. 

Christine and Anthony are in their 7th year of living in Akron, Ohio, continuing to work for Smucker and Oracle, respectively. The combination of remote working and schooling over the past 10 months has certainly given them a lot of “family time”, consisting of board games, movies, escape rooms! Mia (15) is a sophomore at St. Vincent-St. Mary high school, where she is a Student Ambassador, theatre performer, and reading tutor for Lebron James’ I Promise School. Marcus (13) is happy to be back in the classroom to complete his 8th grade year. He continues to participate in a small hip hop class and his school basketball team. Marcus was recently awarded an Irish Academic Scholarship to join his sister in high school next fall. Adam (9) was on the school’s cross country team for the first time in the fall, which was great for helping to burn off his endless energy! His 4th grade teacher introduced him to Dr. Who, and he continues to love drawing, crafting, and long division. The Herreras are sad to miss their annual Christmas visit to Toronto this year, but look forward to reuniting in person with family and friends in 2021! 

Stephen, Irene, Benjamin (6) and Madison (4) Yang have all been studying and working from home since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. This has allowed plenty of family bonding time. Both kids learned to ride two-wheel bikes this summer, and enjoyed camping, beaching and backyard time during the summer months. Ben started Grade 1 French Immersion and Madison entered Junior Kindergarten in September. Ben builds elaborate marble runs and enjoys music, basketball and watching classic Disney and Lego movies. Madison excels at math, art, creative play, and all sports especially soccer. They both miss swimming and in-person playdates. The Yang family looks forward to skating more this winter on their newly installed backyard rink! 

Pauline and Ben also had an eventful 2020. Their busy work life was interrupted when the first COVID lockdown happened, but this disruption gave them time to reflect and reorient their lives. With help from family, they were able to find and purchase a 100-acre piece of paradise in Northumberland County, complete with a fixer upper house, four barns, two cows (Ellie Mae and Puddin), two chickens (Red and White) and almost a hundred sugar maple trees in the forest. They've been traversing the steep learning curve of home and farm ownership, and getting to know their new calf, Otis. Ben continues to teach (now at two school boards), while planning his new farm business (and home renovations) and spending a lot of time with his chainsaw. Pauline is managing her ever-expanding Chinese medicine practice, Oncology Acupuncture Toronto, through remote work and commuting into Toronto once a week, and spends her extra time caring for animals, keeping the wood furnace fired up, and volunteering for a grassroots youth organization. 

Amy, Matt, Teo (3) and Indie (1) finally moved into their new home in Toronto's Riverdale neighbourhood, thankfully just before the March lockdown. Teo, now 3½, has grown to love part-time preschool at Waldorf Academy, as well as singing, yoga, scootering, and eating insatiably. Indie, now 1½, grows physically mightier by the day, dancing and tumbling around with Teo, gobbling up fruit by the mouthful, and practising new words and songs each day. The boys enjoy meeting their usual neighbourhood buddies each day at Withrow Park to "play construction" (trucks) in the sandbox. Matt's business, Volition Properties Inc, flourished during 2020, growing his team by 100% and delivering education to 2000+ investors through his Toronto Real Estate Investors Mastermind Meetup group. Amy's hiatus from research this past year afforded her precious time with her growing "monkeys" (Teo & Indie), and invited new and rekindled interests (gardening, cooking, piano, creative writing). She is excited to see where 2021 will take her by way of creative, academic, or entrepreneurial adventures. As a family, the Lees enjoyed housing their niece from Hong Kong, Petrina, during her final high school term, and proudly celebrated her graduation and admission into the University of Waterloo. While the family has come to enjoy frequent hikes, bike rides, and picnicking as a foursome, they certainly look forward to catching up on quality time with family and friends post-COVID-19! 

Julie is happily running her collaborative integrative medicine, acupuncture, therapy & wellness clinic (aurummedicine.ca) at Bloor and Christie in Toronto. She still maintains a private practice in-person and virtually at 3 clinic locations (drjuliehwang.com). 2020 brought a number of opportunities and blessings. She enjoys woodworking, making art, playing music, cycling, cooking, playing sports and making new health businesses in her free time in her home in Harbord Village/Annex area of Toronto. Keep in touch & message her on Instagram @hwangie. Big Hugs. We thank our many friends and relatives for sharing the events of 2020 with us, and we pray for God’s blessings for the coming of Jesus at Christmas and His protection in the New Year ahead! More now than ever are we grateful for the blessings of physical and mental health, along with unconditional love and friendship. With love, Paul, Wai Chin, Christine (Anthony, Mia, Marcus, Adam), Irene (Stephen, Benjamin, Madison), Pauline (Benjamin), Amy (Matthew, Damien (a.k.a. Teo), Indie), and Julie 

Photos

Wai Chin’s 70th birthday dinner with Paul and the Hooi family. Enjoying an autumn lunch in Minden, Ontario. Mia, Christine, Anthony, Adam, and Marcus keeping warm by the backyard fire. Irene, Stephen, Madison, and Benjamin enjoying the slopes of Whistler, BC (pre-pandemic). Pauline and Ben embracing their new farm life – ATVing, tapping maples, and tending to new baby calf Otis. Matt, Amy, Indie, and Teo trick-or-treating and building blocks together. Julie enjoying a relaxing rink break, and carving a masterpiece for Halloween.