Dad's passing so soon after Mum was a double blow. No one felt much like celebrating Jody's birthday. We are, however, muddling through.
Jody's doing a smashing job of keeping up the garden. She's at Landgraab Labs now; some of the consumer technology she has in the works would be beyond the realm of imagination were it not for the books from before the disaster that describe it as commonplace.
Harald is quite the sports legend these days. He's swarmed by screaming fans and autograph seekers of both sexes whenever he goes out. With the Llamas' winning season, there's a renewed interest in sports and fitness, for recreation as well as a grim necessity.
Valfrid's paintings are eagerly snapped up by collectors, at least those who don't fear running afoul of the mob, as soon as they're finished, sometimes even before they're started.
His days as a bachelor are indeed numbered. None of us could be happier; Ebony's a great girl.
I've been elected to City Council. I intend to stir things up there; Sunset Valley is full of draconian regulations that might have been necessary in the days of no sanitation, when thugs ran amok in the streets and food was so scarce that people were murdered for it. Food rationing ended during Aunt Elizabeth's tenure but all other materials and manufactured goods remain strictly rationed. There's no reason for that in this day and age but many of my colleagues consider the rationing an ancient and venerable tradition.
Absalon is popular and doing well in school in spite of the dim view he takes of homework.
Jody and I are to be parents at last. We've been hoping for a little one for some years now, and, while we weren't yet frantic, we certainly haven't been getting any younger.
