2. Debbie was tired today. She'd had parent conferences all day Friday, taught her students on Monday and Tuesday, with more conferences after school. She drove to Spokane, happily, to pick up Misty on Wednesday, and their joyful person to person meeting happened and continued as they arrived in Kellogg and brought me into the fold of their developing friendship/aunt/niece relationship.
My job on Wednesday and Thursday: take care of many of the logistics and food preparation and other arrangements for our family's Thanksgiving dinner.
So I did, with Debbie giving me help along the way.
I stuffed the celery, prepared the crackers and olive tapenade, dressed the kale and sweet potato salad, helped Debbie lengthen our dinner table with the addition of our card table, opened wine bottles, mixed the Ocean Spray cranberry juice and vodka cocktails, halved the Cornish game hens, and maybe some other things. Debbie roasted the asparagus. She brought dishes we needed up from the basement after ironing the tablecloth. She thanked me repeatedly for doing what I did, giving her time to rest and to continue conversations with Misty and to help make dinner happen by doing some really helpful tasks.
3. Patrick and Meagan arrived mid-afternoon. They brought wine, orange cranberry bread, brown butter Rice Krispie bars, and cookies from an awesome Mexican bakery in Portland.
Later they went over to Christy's to help transport Christy's several contributions to our dinner: a Tastes of Thanksgiving cake with whipped cream, several Cornish game hens, a wild rice and other grains-based stuffing, huckleberry wine, red Solo shot glasses and cinnamon vanilla whiskey so we could toast Everett after dinner, her tripod, dinner rolls, Trader Joe's pumpkin butter, and possibly other items that have slipped my mind. Earlier Christy brought over Thanksgiving napkins and two floral arrangements set in real pumpkins.
Molly arrived a little later with multiple bottles of wine, guaranteeing that there would be something for everyone! And there was!
(I bore witness to the others drinking a cocktail, enjoying wine, and drinking in honor of Everett. On the doctor's advice, I continue to abstain from drinking alcohol.)
It all worked out beautifully. After toasting Everett we gradually made our way into the living room and I can hardly begin to sum up the many subjects of conversation that took place -- but, I can say that the conversations were fascinating, charged with goodwill, and packed with things we learned from one another.
My favorite words in The Big Lebowski come from The Stranger (Sam Elliott). After hearing the Dude say, "The Dude Abides", The Stranger turns to the camera and says, "The Dude abides. I don't know about you, but I take comfort in that."
I just wrote that the Thanksgiving conversations in our little house were fascinating, charged with goodwill, and packed with things we learned from one another.
I don't know about you, but I take comfort in that.
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