LOVE IS

Pam and I are in the afterglow of Thanksgiving right now. We are also in the midst of recanting mashed potatoes and stuffing and hurling Thanksgiving Invectives for baking a dried out turkey because we thought the pop-up thermometer was defective. …but it wasn’t…..

All this begs the query….Why are all the scenes of Thanksgiving dinner ones with the smiling family all gathered round a beautiful table of food (but not showing the 31 side dishes requiring three additional card tables on which to put the food?….You know…the food that someone thought would be a nice little extra to bring).) How can everyone be looking so happy when they already know that crummy “I’m not feeling too good” is waiting for them at the end of the road.. I think they should should start posting the devastating aftermath…The revelry of bodily functions going off like a Gatling gun …. and of course, the “fun walk” after the meal, to walk off some calories…. You know…..the little jaunt where aunt Harriet goes into cardiac arrest because she can’t keep up with the rest of the group. I know now why they call it Black Friday. It’s not that people are getting gifts for someone else,. they’re out trying to buy new clothes that are one size bigger…No wonder they’re all mad and everything!!!

Now that I’m wearing hearing aids and my eyesight is very poor, I just sit in the chair and watch what I can make out of the bedlam. The voices of excited children, multiple conversations with people talking over each other, guys watching the football game in the same room and the flurry of pots, pans and dishes….and this all at maximum volume. My head is exploding!!!

But somehow….someway…I feel a percolating joy in it all. The closeness…. A quick hug…. I loving touch….rubbing noses with my granddaughter and then getting a little kiss….a warm smile…old and newly taken photos… traditional family recipes and the customary way we do things…sharing stories…..young ears listening…for some families, a prayer….laughter…some tears…This is the theater of Thanksgiving….A familial grip no matter the number of people or how they are configured…whether by blood. history or new relationships……Love is.

Cheers!!! ❤️