Hi Mom,
It's quite cold this morning. Dale Sr. is still sleeping. I woke early because I want to straighten up the house before going to meet my friend Sylvia for coffee and do other errands which may take up most of the morning. Even after my third cup of coffee, I still feel tired!
We had a really nice Thanksgiving, though it seemed strange not to be doing any cooking. The visit to Dale Jr. and Michelle's was around 9:AM because she wanted to get the kids down for a nap before going over to her Mom's for Thanksgiving dinner in the afternoon. Lil called to wish us Happy Thanksgiving. I went up to Starbuck's, and as I went through e-mail and Facebook, received many more Thanksgiving messages there, including yours, Nancy! In the late afternoon we drove in to Marie's parents for Thanksgiving dinner with their loud, friendly family.
The morning visit to Dale Jr. and Michelle and kids went really well. She had asked that we come early so that she could get the two little ones down for a nap before they went over to Michelle's parents. Little Shayla mostly slept and nursed, but sometimes she was awake and alert. She still looks more like a newborn than Lyssa's Waylon did when he was born!
Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera over there.
At the last minute, before we left, I'd got the idea of taking materials over for Shelby to make Thanksgiving cards for Michelle's sister and mom. I had colored construction paper left over from the drama club's prop-making. I took tan for the body of the card, brown for the body and head of the turkey, and about five other colors for the feathers.
At first, Shelby, who is in the blasé early teen stage, stayed in the big chair at the other side of the room. She looked at her "tablet" and absolutely refused to take part in making the cards, in spite of her parents' urging. But when I took the brown paper with the outline of the turkey drawn on it over to her, she was eventually was willing to cut it out while sitting in her chair. I breathed a sign of relief when she finally relented, as I didn't want to be the cause of what seemed to be a common frustration on her parents' part, "that she never wants to do anything anymore".
Ethan was very interested in the scissors. We had him sit at a little chair at the coffee table and, holding the scissors in a very strange way, he continued for half an hour cutting bits of paper, some of which were shaped enough like feathers that they could be glued on the turkey. I was quite impressed that he concentrated on this new skill for so long, Dale Jr. coaxing him into making some of them longer and thinner.
After the basic turkey shapes were on the card, I gave them to Shelby to write "Happy Thanksgiving" on them with the "Sharpie" marker I'd brought. She spent quite a while on them, also writing "to my most favorite auntie" on Michelle's sister's card, and a message to her grandmother on the other, in very neat, competent printing.
So that project was a success. Having something to do, rather than just sitting around chatting, seemed to relax Michelle, I think as a shy person she felt less "on the spot". She was quite friendly. Also, the cards were a way of sending good wishes to Michelle's family.
After the cards were done, Dale Jr. put about five little dots of glue on a yellow half-sheet of construction paper, and showed Ethan how to glue one of his tiny bits of paper by pressing it on a dot. Ethan got very interested, and immediately started pressing his little bits of paper onto the dots. Dale Sr., on the other side of him, made more dots, and here's the resulting art-work:
After he was finished, little Ethan turned to his mom, who was sitting right behind him on the couch holding Shayla, and said, rather under his breath, "Can I have my tablet please" and he was back to doing games on it.
When we were saying goodby, Ethan jumped up and down, his arms going up and down, saying, "Good bye, Good bye, goodbye!" a jump for each "Good bye".
I did the same, which cracked him up. He repeated his jumping and goodbyes, which made me laugh and do it again, and he did it again, laughing, and I did it again, and he did it again, and I did it again. My ankles and feet are okay this morning, but sometimes the soreness doesn't come until the second day after.
During the conversation, Michelle mentioned that Shelby had had to have her intestine operated on while a tiny baby. The end of it near her colon was "dead" and they had to pull it out, cut the dead part out, and sew it back together. Repeated hospital visits after that were required to push a rod into her anus to make sure that scar tissue did not close the intestine back up again.
At Starbucks, "Pastor Dave" one of my favorite people that I always see there, wished me Happy Thanksgiving. I shook his hand and told him that I was grateful to have him as a friend. A rare combination, a "Bible Christian" who is also liberal in his politics. We always ask each other how we are doing. If something is bothering me I summarize it for him and he always seems to have something to say which makes me feel better. Likewise, he tells me if he is struggling with a cold, etc.
He also has a little band which plays mostly Beatles and Elvis.
Lil's call was short and nice. She seemed surprised that our Thanksgiving Dinner would be in the evening. She said that they were all finished with their meal.
We drove into Marie's parents at around 5:15, just when the late afternoon sun was right in our eyes. Everyone was warm and welcoming. Diana looked well in spite of her cancer ordeal this past year, though she's put on even more weight.
Lawson and Marie did all of the cooking.
It's been a difficult year for Lawson and Marie, and also for Marie's dad, Sante. (In New Jersey, which is where they are all from, this Italian name is pronounced "Sant" to rhyme with "ant") Marie's dad. Lots of chauffering, not just Diana to her appointments, but also chauffering Diana's former-druggie sister Teresa to her many doctor appointments, because Diana used to do all of that for her sister.
Lawson has also spent many hours helping Marie get ready to open the bakery part of that bakery-restaurant where she now works. She is really happy to be back cooking, so far, she says, the restaurant-bakery has been a success.
Speaking of baking, this was our dessert. Part of the topping of the cupcakes is persimmon seeds.
This was the first time that we had seen Lawson in a long time. Whenever I have talked to him on the phone and ask him how he was doing and if he would like to have lunch together, he would just give say "Oahhh..." ending in a kind of shudder.
There were about five other relatives there, a loud and friendly group. Everyone was very pleasant to each other, though Marie's cousin Teresa has upset everyone this year by using drugs again, and by striking her unwell mother in anger, Lawson told me. The relatives who had come out from West Virginia were quite nice and friendly.
This is a photograph of Teresa:
So that was it for yesterday. When we got in the truck and Dale Sr. drove the thirty minutes home, I fell sound asleep and woke up only as the car slowed to turn onto our little dirt street!
Love, Lennie
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