John e-mailed his mother in early December:

Look mom! We got portraits done for our holiday cards. Aren’t you proud of me? I still can’t believe it. i’m not hooked up with some gang-banger, but dating a sweater-wearing dentist!! I’m so happy. You did the right thing by sending me off to live with Uncle Ted in Vermont when I was in high school. Lord knows how my life would have turned out. I’d be in jail or dead if I stayed in Baltimore, the road I was going down. Scares me sometimes to think about it. Love this picture. Isn’t Caesar cute?? I want to snuggle him to bits. Oh btw – did you notice what was on my finger? 🙂 Guess we better start planning come january….

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Captions are fictional.