Thanksgiving

Picking my son up from college right now, three hours away. He got the virus the first night on campus, saw his sports season cancelled, his classes move online, etc. However, the other two goalkeepers he competed with both transferred out as of this week. The little things.

F the food. A car ride with him for three hours is all I need.

 

Sadly, 2020 can't even let us have that nice thing.

 

The last few years, we hosted an elderly member of our synagogue for dinner, but we’re not going to have him over this year, both for his safety and ours.

Otherwise, we’ll have our usual dinner with me and my Dad watching (now less) football. Both my parents have had some big health problems this year, so I’m especially thankful we have them both this Thanksgiving.

 

Work, then dinner with my Mom.

Spend the late afternoon watching the local wildlife case the feeders and compost bins for feasts of their own.

Ignore voicemail from family members and the latest ex-boyfriend, all of whom will tell me I am hideous, completely undeserving of love, and will die alone and be eaten by small household pets. (So how's that "close business relationship" you have with the president going there, cousin who works for Douchebank?)

Allow friend who says she's a pet psychic to channel my late dogs for my mother. Same friend tells my mother she is a shaman. Mom is thrilled by this.

My metre-high Domo will make an appearance for the Teddy-Bear Hunt this week. I have already asked if any small children are afraid of Domo. One mother responded she wasn't fond of fart jokes, but her children will be thrilled.

I hope everyone has the merriest holiday they can this year.

 

update here

Charity Challenge 2020

 

Happy Thanksgiving to smart and funny people who have helped a shitburger of a year be more tolerable. I have a deep admiration for many of the folks here.

 

Thank you, my friend. The feeling is likewise.

 

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone here. I'm thankful this place helped keep me sane in a year of Covid, unemployment, political apprehension and some since-resolved health issues. You are all solid 6s.

 

Not to worry. We changed plans at the last minute yesterday afternoon. There will be no mass gathering at my mom's house. Instead, it has been transformed into WriteThinking Takeout, with some of the crowd stopping by at 3 p.m., some stopping by at 4 p.m. and some stopping by at 5:30 p.m., and then, 6 p.m., after the almost 24-pound turkey my mom bought is done and can can be divvied up and given to everyone to take home with them to eat at their own houses.

But, to my personal feeling that, yes, we should have taken our chances and gotten together, given that everyone's doing OK and that we can all wear masks and social-distance if we want: I was over, helping my mom stuff the turkey and load it into the roasting pan and then, into the oven, this morning when one of my brothers -- one of the ones who's moving out of the country soon -- called, just to say "Happy Thanksgiving."

I sat and listened to my mom, on the phone, lamenting that we weren't getting together, her voice suddenly breaking as she said, "I know everyone says it's the right thing. But it just seems like we should all be together. I mean, let's face it, you're going to be moving soon, WriteThinking brother2 will be going away soon, too, WriteThinking brother3 is already in the Philippines. And who knows what's going to be, next year -- if I'm even still gonna be here?"...

Apologizing to my brother for getting down and emotional, I watched her wipe her eyes. And I wiped mine.

The problem with never getting together in the name of COVID, which may, in fact, never impact us personally otherwise...

 

Happy Thanksgivings to you all. Stay safe, and if you're ignoring the CDC by having a large, indoor gathering, with no masks, you're part of the problem!