It’s Thanksgiving night. Just got back from dinner in Garfield with brother Frank, his wife Elaine and their family. It was pleasant, though of course a family dinner wouldn’t be the same without a little drama. Today’s drama concerned Elaine and her son in law, Rob and it was all about control. Elaine cooked a turkey, Rob’s mom was bringing lasagna. Don’t even mention the ham. Not enough space in the ovens for both so there were hurt feelings. It was all resolved by the time we were able to sit and eat but still drama was a small undercurrent. Brother Frank still gets flustered, the aphasia still rears it’s confounding head and it can be frustrating for him and whomever he might be speaking to. But the progress he’s made is impressive, that’s for sure.

It was an easy enough day though. Bill left early this morning, I got out of bed around 9:00. Missed the morning shows, caught the parade. Didn’t watch it though. Strolled out into the streets of Hoboken, 60 degrees or so. A lot warmer than previous Thanksgivings. I remember it being very cold when I was a kid, being dragged off to Lodi High School to watch some stupid football game. I had no interest in being there at all. Didn’t even enjoy watching the lunk heads tossing the pig skin. I guess the whole thing was to get me out of the house, and that meant my brother Brian having to take me to the stadium against his will and certainly against mine.

I wanted to be home, near the pile of brownies on the green bubbled plate, near the jar full of Pheffernusses that would remain there, until sometime in January, next to the homemade apple pie and mincemeat pies. The apple pie would go fast, the mincemeat pie would linger for a few days, and I don’t recall if it ever made it into the refrigerator. I know that I ever ate any. It looked nasty. It was more of an older person’s dessert and I was a kid. In many ways, I still am.

So dinner was good, lasagna was a bit on the salty side, and I’m not used to lasagna on Thanksgiving. I really didn’t eat much, not that I’m hungry now, but I don’t want to look like a gavone so I usually hold back. Gone are the days of coming home with care packages. They now go to the younger set which is fine and I write that halfheartedly. I wouldn’t mind some pieces of turkey, I mean all I had was one piece of turkey at dinner anyway. I’m grateful, I’m grateful. Really.

It was a good day in Garfield with Frank and Elaine and their daughters Meghan and Cory and Meghan’s husband Rob and his parents, brother and sister and her husband. Haven’t seen most of them since Meg and Rob’s wedding in June, of which I told Meg it was the best party I had ever been to and it certainly was.

Now Bill and I are home, having gotten a ride from Cory and Elaine. I gave Cory two jackets that Julio gave me years ago, a regifting from him vis a vis his ex girlfriend Susan Morphine. One was a suede bomber jacket, the other a distressed leather jacket that just needs a new lining. She tried them on, they were a bit large for her, so I told her to give it to a friend or the salvation army. Elaine tried the black suede jacket and Cory said she looked like Danny DeVito which was funny because at that point, Elaine was at the bottom of a small slope with Cory and I on the higher part, and she did resemble Danny DeVito in stature. True story.