Here in Switzerland the holiday season is marked by beautiful decorations, excited crowds and (usually) snowy landscapes. For Nazy and me, the season marks the only time in the year when the entire family is together. We look forward to the reunion. Nazy plans meals and excursions. We revel in holiday traditions:

• • Mitra’s serendipitous creative spontaneity. This approach, not understood in organized Switzerland, has led to Christmas Day scavenger hunts, a Martin Family rap music video and a stop-action movie staring sugar cookies.

• • Darius’ arrival itinerary. His flights will be booked on obscure airlines that fly indirectly to Zurich (but directly through dubious hubs). This approach allows Darius to minimize costs, while maximizing frequent flyer miles and the chance of something going wrong. He will arrive full of charm and cheer.

• • Melika’s multitasking. She’ll work the Blackberry and fashion magazines while simultaneously handling due diligence on an electronic pile of legal documentation. She has the uncanny ability to get to the crux of the matter in minimal time, a talent she hides as a (billable hour) lawyer.

1985 Houston, Texas

The school district was unimpressed with the British accent Darius had picked up in Vancouver: he had to learn to speak Texan. (“Howdy, Partner!) Oil prices had crashed - probably because I was working in the oil industry. Mitra was excited about learning the May Pole dance - a precursor to her Tango ambitions. Artistically, Nazy was painting and firing ceramics. I was outside raking leaves on Christmas Eve. Melika, four years old, came along to help. She wasn’t happy. “Why do they make us take a nap at school? And who decided to live in a city without snow?” We moved!

1990: The Hague, The Netherlands

Melika, homesick, had a single Christmas wish: a cat. Darius, convinced that his parents were deaf, amplified the wish: “If she doesn’t get a cat, she will cry, Dad”. Artistically, Nazy was painting silk and making ‘stiffy bows’. Mitra was found in the (gasp!) kitchen. Darius summed up family concerns: “If Mitra cooked it, I’m not eating it!” Was it a year of no Christmas Spirit? Find out more at:

http://www.seat26b.com/Seat26b/Theres_no_Christmas_Spirit.html

2001: Hanover, New Hampshire

Nazy and I had almost moved to Switzerland, but Bedlam Abode, The Martin Family estate in New England, was still on the market. Nazy flew into New York so that she and Mitra, who was living in a bohemian Greenwich Village apartment could drive to Hanover together. All of the Christmas presents were stolen from the rental by a professional bohemian villager. Melika, ending her Semester at Sea adventure, flew in from Miami and wondered what was good about snow. The assembled family selected a live Christmas Tree that Darius and I chopped down in a forest covered with two feet of snow. And: “Yes, dear, it did look more symmetric and straighter in the forest than it did in the house. Nevertheless, I installed it properly.”

2011, Zurich, Switzerland

Some traditions remain. Never once, for example, have the distributed members of The Martin Family managed to arrive home for the holiday on the same airplane or even on the same day. Eventually, everyone arrives and our disparate group assembles around the dinner table. It’s an unusual collection of people: an entrepreneur creating a start-up Tango School, an economics professor with global interests, a corporate attorney specializing in IPOs, an artistic and talented CFO (Chief Family Officer) and a business curmudgeon turned internet blogger. It’s more amazing that we all get along so well.

2011 has been exciting. Dan and Nazy spent more time together than they had in any year since they were married. They shunned airline travel in favor of car transport. Luckily there is a lot to see in our neighborhood. Dan’s first book (Stumbling Through the Tulips) will be published shortly. Excerpts are available on Dan’s website: www.seat26b.com. Nazy’s art, primarily water colors, can be viewed on her website www.paintingadventure.com. Oxygen Tango (www.oxygentango.com), Mitra’s school continued to grow and prosper, but her hybrid Honda Insight bit the clutchless dust. She published her first book: Separate Bedrooms, about (surprise!) Tango. Darius assumed Dan’s role as frequent flyer visiting China, Indonesia (where he ran the Bali triathlon), South Africa, India (where he almost won a chess tournament) Germany, Egypt (he did not topple the government) and Mozambique. He talked the American University of Beirut into giving him a sabbatical after only two years. He is spending it doing economic research and sightseeing at the University of Cape Town. Rumor has it that he will fly to Zurich via Namibia. Illustrating her varied outlook, Melika (birthday) partied in Cabo, competed in a Malibu mud race and communed with nature (in a luxury RV) at Burning Man.. She disposed of the Jeep Wrangler that swayed, gurgled, rattled and bounced - replacing it with a Porsche. I am not convinced that exchange will make it more likely that she’ll follow Nazy’s admonition to ‘drive slowly’.

Family photos through the years are available here