The following is an excerpt from a holiday letter that the Gaylord family wrote to friends. Charlie Gaylord was in a skiing accident in the spring of 2006. He was in a coma for about a month, but doctors say he has recovered from his traumatic brain injury (that can leave people as vegetables) amazingly well due to the support of his family. His parents even moved from New York to Boulder to help him recover during his therapy at the brain center. Charlie is now attending college and working as a ski instructor. His girlfriend, Jamie Britt, is a Jumper and an inspiration and here's why: She took a risk just to stay with Charlie and the reward has been priceless. We love you Jamie, Charlie and family. All of you are honorary Jumpers. Thanks for the New Year message.

Dear Friends and Family,

I can’t remember if there has been a year that I have not sent out holiday cards. The making and sending of cards is something I love as I touch each one that gets sent to so many wonderful people we have had the gift of connecting with over our lifetime. It also stresses me out a bit. I order many more that I have addresses on file for, knowing there are others to send greetings to and usually they don’t get sent. This year, as an incentive, I vowed not to order the card until I got the addresses organized. Guess what? It didn’t happen.

This entry is your holiday card, With Love from The Gaylords. I have never written a holiday letter before but since you have been such avid readers of our life’s events for the last 21 months it seems appropriate to fill you in on what’s up with all of us.

Charlie, as you know, has been reborn. Most noteworthy is the gratitude, love and joy he exhibits each day of his life. Recently Laura [Charlie's sister] told him, “I had to write a list in school of thing I wish I could change. I wrote that I wished I could change my brother back to who he was before his accident. But I don’t really feel that way. I love you so much the way you are.” His brain injury is still certainly a disability which causes frustration, confusion, fatigue and sometimes he just gets overwhelmed. As he has written in this journal, his “attitude and drive to get better” get him past those times quickly. He is keenly aware of the support and love of others and the effect that has on his life everyday. He has been a wonderful example for us all.

A recent New Yorker magazine had a cartoon with the caption reading, “My parents didn’t do my homework but I did bring them in as consultants.” Ritter and I loved being Charlie’s consultants at CU last fall and we are proud of our grades: A, A-, B+. Charlie was a dedicated student working extremely hard. He didn’t miss one class and each evening when he returned from class he would report what a great class it was and insist on sharing what he had just learned.

After the CU fall semester ended he moved back up to Snowmass to live with Jamie in their studio apartment and return to work. (For most of the first week without him here in the Boulder house I would get choked up when I looked in his room — it doesn’t happen as much now.) He was blessed to be hired as a Private Instructor for his first five days of work by dear friends from our NYC days who came to ski with their family and those first 5 days where a great success. This next phase is bound to have ups and downs as he reenters the “real world” without Ritter and me by his side. Jamie is much better at letting him do it on his own than either of us have been.

Jamie has been working hard, at both day and night jobs, since the winter season arrived. She plans to go to nursing school when they decide to let her in which is certain to be sometime in the next year or so. Charlie called her his Sugar Momma last summer as she continued to work and he continued to get therapy. Now he is determined to even the scales and is anxious to get working. We had Thanksgiving with the Gaylord and Britt families hosted by Jamie’s mom, Val. Our family has certainly been blessed by Jamie’s presence. The girls like it when people think she is their sister.

... Most importantly, the holiday season is a chance to feel the joy of life and the love of friends and family. The celebrations we have just participated in this season were full of both. Noteworthy was a Gaylord gathering for Ritter’s father’s 80^th birthday with all 10 siblings and their families. Charlie stood before the crowd and gave a toast to his grandfather for being such a moral person because of his role in the preservation of the species and thanked him for getting to his bedside so quickly 21 months ago.

We send lots of love to you all. Thank you for being part of our lives over the years, this year and hopefully for years to come.