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The year 2003 was overall an exciting one for the Novak family (as they all
tend to be), and though it ends on a sad note, we remain hopeful we will make
it through together with help from our family and friends.
We have moved to our new home at the beginning of the year – the first
place we owned since our arrival to Canada. “If location, location, location”
is one of the most important criteria by which places are judged, we have picked
a good one - only minutes from High Park, Lake Shore, or Bloor Street Village.
Even the unpredictable Spring rains couldn’t stop Mladen & Jelena
from taking long, relaxing walks exploring our new neighbourhood, and Summer
barely caught them at home
.
We visited our nation’s capital
(hint: not Toronto
)
in May for our “Second Annual Get to Know Your Country Road Trip”,
and have spent the summer exploring the many parks, inns, nooks and crannies
of Ontario.
Nikola has spent much of the summer looking for a job and realizing
just how depressed the IT market was. Finally, with Mladen’s help, in
September he started working at IBM Canada. In his new position, he gets to
play with a dozen servers all of his own, and even the responsibility of keeping
everything running before users get too upset doesn’t seem to take away
from the fun he is having.
He has already been sent to a technical exchange conference in California this
November, and will likely participate in a residency program in North Carolina
next January.
In between writing resumes
and fixing the computers, this year Nikola has also turned into an outdoorsy
person, finally compensating for years of staring at the monitor by being outside
and exploring the parks and Ontario wilderness every chance he got, usually
accompanied either by his family, the artistically-oriented “Music Girls”,
or even his computer-geek friends – whenever he managed to persuade them
to leave the comfort and safety of their consoles.
Ivona has decided
to stay another year at school in order to avoid Ontario’s “University
Rush of ‘03”. Much to her dismay, she is taking Calculus again to
improve her mark, so notes of sympathy are accepted and appreciated.
She is also very successful at her job at Banana Republic, in the upscale Sherway
Gardens Mall. Known far and wide for her superior folding skills, her smile,
charm, and absolute persistence in ensuring customer walks away with tons of
new clothes, have made her a new favourite of both her management and colleagues.
Finally, Ivona’s social and romantic life continues to excite and is always
the subject of much speculation and intrigue.
Mladen continues
his successful engagement at Canadian Tire, where he is a much-needed member
of IBM’s award-winning team. Even his naturally grumpy demeanor (at least
as seen by his kids) does not seem to impede the respect he receives from his
colleagues and recognition of his managers.
In private life, family is still the most important thing to Mladen, and though
we can’t quite figure out what he sees in us, we love that he is loving
and taking care of us .
Jelena has
also become a crucial part of the company she works for, continuing to bring
order and control into the barely-controlled chaos… much like she has
done for years for Nikola and Ivona.
The youngest and most energetic member of the family by far, she has pushed
the rest of us to succeed in education and work, take care of ourselves and
join in her nature walks… and keep our rooms at least somewhat tidy
As many of you know, Jelena has
checked into St. Joseph’s hospital at the end of November, after three
months of increasing neck pain. The diagnosis, which caught all of us by surprise,
was extensive cancer in her lungs, neck, and possibly other parts. She will
hopefully be discharged shortly after the holidays, and will begin chemotherapy
in January. The bravest one of us all, she remains in good spirits and determined
to fight.
We are committed to helping her in any way that we can, and we are grateful
to all our friends and family for the enormous support and understanding you
have given.
Though not all of us are religious, we ask you to give a little prayer for our mom if you can, and keep her in your thoughts as she fights through this difficult time.
Happy Holidays, and much
success in happiness in 2004,
Mladen, Jelena, Nikola & Ivona
Novak
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