What a year. We can’t decide if it feel like a whole decade, or just a blink.
We wish for sanity and civility to make a comeback in 2026, and in the mean time have focused on the good people around us, the small daily joys, and the inspiring folks doing good in the world. Also, No Kings, please!
SHAYLA survived a dramatic senior year and is in southern California at the University of Redlands. If not much news is good news, she must be doing ok. It’s a huge life change for her; parents who’ve been through it tell us the occasional “I’m outta here” is to be expected. In addition to school she’s working at a nearby WingStop, running her own nail business for fellow students, and doing shifts in the coffee shop in her dorm.
JADEN enjoyed his first high school football season and made it through with only one minor concussion. We didn’t love that, but he’s been banging into things with glee since he was quite small, so at least there is some padding in the game. He’s nearly 6 foot tall, and seems to be enjoying high school, making new friends, and keeping busy. Jaden is an enthusiastic and energetic gamer. We continue to be impressed with how independent he is. Has transit pass, will travel!
DAVID, amid the strange half-empty nest mix of nostalgia and newfound time, announced his retirement from David Kerr Design and is thrilled that Gwyn Fisher’s AgaveWeb will do a gradual takeover in 2026. He continues his brain-sharpening Wordle habit, and is excited that sometime in 2026 there will be time to plan out the next phase. Learning to cha cha is not off the table, though no promises at this point.
JAY, after getting through most of the best rated books of the last 50 years has gone further back to mid-last-century classics. He’s been shocked that many of them are quite smutty — sex in the dustbowl days! He continues to solve genealogy mysteries for those trying to figure out weirdness in their family trees. No secret is safe so you might as well tell them now. Oh, and he reached a little milestone called “65”!
We wish you joyful holidays and community, connection, and comfort in the new year!
David Jay Jaden & Shayla
Jay’s Books
Bel Canto, Ann Patchett
Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguru
On Beauty, Zadie Smith
Olive Kittredge, Elizabeth Strout
Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver
Pachinko, Min Jin Lee
Life After Life, Kate Atkinson
Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart
The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt
A Brief History of Seven Killings, Marlon James
David’s Books
Outline, Rachel Cusk
What We Can Know, Ian McEwan
Playground, Richard Powers
Memorial Days, Geraldine Brooks
Our Evenings, Alan Hollinghurst
In the Distance, Hernan Diaz
Clown Town, Mick Herron
Beautyland, Marie-Helene Bertino
The Heart in Winter, Kevin Barry
The Grey Wolf, Louise Penny
Screen
Nobody Wants This
Andor
Death by Lightning
Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost
Slow Horses
Somebody, Somewhere
Dying for Sex
Ted Lasso
Shrinking
The Bear
Pee Wee as Myself
The Pitt
