Cathy Bynum Maurer

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What a Year it was - 2009!!!

Well as another year comes to an end I thought it would be nice to let you know how things are going. I’ve been in Paris most of this year except for a couple of trips to Philly and Denver respectively. Philly was for a visit to Deborah and Suresh who I have not seen for a couple of years and Denver was to serve on Jury duty. I was in luck and my number was not called, so I managed to get a few days rest. Well let me start at the beginning of the year. I spent the first 3 months out of work waiting for something to come along. I thought it would never happen and then suddenly I was posted to Paris where I have been ever since. I’ve been working at La Banque Postale saving them beaucoup bucks in the process. In addition I have been helping develop the business in France to the point that we are beginning to make headway in a very closed market. France is a true exception in the IT world in that it still has a large number of ordinateur centrals (mainframes to you and me) and so is rife for the kind of work the company I work with do (i.e. MIPS reduction).

Would you believe that this year is the 5^th year since my Sweety pie passed away? She is still in my daily thoughts and desires and not a day goes by without me seeing or doing something that reminds me of her. While in Denver recently she popped her head round the corner a couple of times. She just does that every so often and I know she is keeping an eye out for me. Cathy will truly be always with me and constantly looking after me. I feel so blessed and secure knowing this.

This year while working for most of it I have managed to go away with Dom to such places as Madrid, Barcelona, Lyon (twice to her parents) and Birmingham for a long weekend of shopping. Over Christmas this year her sister Veronique who lives in Italy and her family (husband Max, 6 year old Luca and 3 year old Elisa) will be staying with us for the festivities. It’s going to be a real nice Christmas and very child focused. My first ever I would say except for when I was a child. Santa has to exist this year.

Earlier in the year Cathy’s sister Susan came to Europe to follow in her sister’s footsteps. She spent time travelling to many of the places that Cathy and I went to and concluded her trip by joining me in Paris while I was working and then coming to stay in Dom and my house in Brighton on the south coast. I think Susan experienced a lot of what Cathy had experienced in her first year in Munich before I met her. She spent time with Mark her husband and then spent time on her own having to fend for herself just as Cathy had done in 1990. I had planned to join her, but work and the lack of any income earlier in the year prevented me from doing more than I could. Susan has setup a blog of here travels and when I find the address I shall post it here and let you all know. I am sure you will be interested to read and see her exploits.

All in all this year has been a rather hectic one after the slow start and it looks like next year will just be hectic from the start. Stay tuned and I’ll try to update the site with photos of my travels and exploits and hopefully keep up to date with you all.

Here’s wishing you good health and a Happy New Year,

Love to you all and Je t'aime beaucoup,

Eddy XXX

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