2019 Christmas Letter and Collage

(Pictures identified at the end of the letter)

CHRISTMAS LETTER 2019

As always I feel so grateful as I write this annual letter – I am deeply blessed with a strong faith, a loving family, a wonderful man in my life, precious friends all over the world, good health, work that I love, and the amazing opportunity to travel to many interesting places.  How could life get any better than that? 😉

January and February were quiet, “catch up” months this year (which I desperately needed!). I was interviewed on the ABC Suncoast View and enjoyed opera season as well as many fun times with Frank and friends. In March Frank took me to Las Vegas for a few days, and then Gretchen and family were here for a week for their Spring Break.  One of the special treats was taking all of them to see the “Lion King,” the boys’ first Broadway play. At the end of March I was thrilled to spend 7 days in Iceland. Unfortunately, we did not see the Northern Lights because of weather, but we saw spectacular scenery, and the highlight was a massage in the Blue Lagoon.

In April I had the fun opportunity to speak at the Delta Flight Museum and then in Jacksonville where I got to see some very special friends. Later that month Frank and I took a Viking River Cruise (his first) on the Elbe River.  The highlights were the days we spent in Berlin and Prague, two cities filled with history, art and music.

May was filled with birthday celebrations, a visit from my brother, Bruce, from Colorado (who LOVES the beach, fishing, and my kayak) and finally a fun visit with the Larsens, longtime friends from my hometown in Iowa. In June I spoke for my 22^nd year at the Society for Human Resource Management national convention in Las Vegas. I did two sessions, one on Appreciation and one on Kindness, with several thousand at each one.  It just shows how desperately we all need positivity and hope in our world today.  I feel so blessed to be the messenger that we can EACH make a difference every day.

July started with a fun family trip to Long Beach Island, Washington. I rented a big house and everyone except Gavin, who had to work, was there.  You will see the crazy, misspelled tye-dyed sweatshirts we all got for the annual family picture!  At the end of July I attended the National Speaker’s Association conference in Denver, and in August I spoke to Bouchard Insurance where they did a wonderful full-length video of my presentation on service, https://barbaraglanz.com/videos/barbara-glanz-keynote-preview/.  Frank and I then took another Viking cruise from Basel to Amsterdam which we loved.

The end of August was the Veteran Speakers Retreat in the DC area, one of my favorite groups of friends in the world.  However, the sad news was that I ended up having a terrible asthma attack (my own fault from neglecting to use my inhaler on a regular basis).  It was very scary not being able to breathe!  Frank and I had booked a trip to Japan for 2 ½ weeks the beginning of September, and just three days before we were to leave, the doctors said I could not go.  That was terribly disappointing, but we found out later that the first day we were arriving, there was a huge typhoon right at the airport where we would have been staying.  It destroyed homes, flooded everything, shut down all transportation with no electricity for 15 days, so we could never have gotten to our ship. What a lesson in trusting God’s better plan for us!

October was really busy with several speaking trips. On October 19 Ken Blanchard asked me to be on a panel with him and three other people on KINDNESS for the  Global Empowerment Summit at UC San Diego sponsored by the United Nations. It brought together an amazing collection of progressive global leaders and change makers from all over the world to discuss, raise awareness of, and empower kindness and compassion around the world.  The mayor proclaimed it “Kindness Day” for the entire city of San Diego.  I had the joy of staying with the Blanchards AND getting to spend a few days with my amazing 96 year old aunt who still does water aerobics, dances, drives, and plays bridge!

At the end of the month, I met my friend, Leila, from London, in New York City for 5 days. We got to see “To Kill a Mockingbird” with Jeff Daniels, “Tootsie,” “Moulin Rouge”, and “Madame Butterfly” at the Met.  What an exciting city it is!  In early November I spoke in Seattle and got to see Garrett’s family for a few days. Then I flew to Portland the week before Thanksgiving and we all drove to Garrett’s for the holiday.  I will be back in Portland for Christmas.

In November I created a new product that has been on my heart for a long time – a Perpetual Calendar of all my favorite uplifting thoughts for the day.  Everyone who knows me knows how much I love quotations, so I hope this will bring hope, inspiration and joy to many people.  The best news is that you can use it forever! 😉

A fun highlight of the year was a phone call from “Uncle Wayne” Williams after he was given my book on Appreciation.  He called to tell me that “he wanted to make a difference in the time he had left,” so he has ordered over 60 of my books to give away all over the country.  Uncle Wayne is 99 years old and lives all alone on a farm in Shell Knob, MO.  He has an iphone, he does email, he has his own website and he even has a YouTube channel.  What an inspiration he is….AND I am invited to his 100^th birthday party! 😉

GARRETT continues to work for Amazon and focuses on new business deals with Alexa. Ashley is busy with their horse, volunteering and remodeling their lovely home.  Kinsey was able to graduate with her class but is still having lots of pain in her knees and ankles from the steroid treatment for the leukemia.  She is taking a year off before college to try several options before having to possibly replace both knees and ankles. Gavin is working two jobs and spending all his free time and money on his hot car!

GRETCHEN is still working as Operations Manager for 4 boutiques in Portland while Randy continues his freelance work with web design.  Owen is a freshman in HS majoring in computer science. He saved up his money to buy a computer that he built himself and a VR headset. He loves his “cave’ in the basement!  Simon is in Jr, High and a really talented soccer player.  He plays on the United PDX Premier Academy Club as a left back.  They compete in tournaments all over the state.

ERIN still works for the company that reps a number of lines of women’s clothing.  She is very successful as the number two person in the company and keeps busy with her two kitties, Cricket and Clover, and supporting the Timbers soccer team.

I am grateful to all of you for being my precious clients and friends.  I wish you a safe and happy 2020.

Special Blessings,

FAMILY PICTURES