‘Oh, yes. I have plenty of blessings to count, too.’
If you’ve been wondering where I’ve been, thank you. I appreciate your giving me and my measly little blog any thoughts at all (!)
No Namibia excuse. Not this time, anyway. For a real trip, read “The Four Seatmates of the Apocalypse”
Confession: I haven’t been anywhere (except maybe off the rails). I just haven’t been feeling very funny lately. (Well, maybe I’ve been feeling “funny,” just not “funny haha funny.”)
There’s the fact that my wonderful friend and shirt-tail relation, Aunt Eleanor, left us to go hit Saint Peter up for a donation to the Eleanor Whitmore Daycare Center. Eleanor: “What do you mean, you’re short of cash? What about those pearly gates, mister?!”
Eleanor wangling a donation out of Dude Man
And, not as earth-shatteringly important — not even close — but all the Christmas goings-on can make me feel, well, melancholy. Yesterday I cranked up a Christmas playlist on Spotify and found myself tearing up over Dean Martin doing “Let it Snow,” for heavens sakes.
Sometimes opera makes me cry. But that makes me happy
Thanksgiving doesn’t have that kind of effect on me. Maybe because I’m too busy planning and organizing and cooking. And maybe the very things about it that make it (IMHO) the Best Holiday Ever — no gifts, no decorations, no carols — mean there are fewer “triggers,” if you will. Though the aroma of pumpkin pie can do me in. Maybe that’s really why I didn’t make one this year. (And not the fact that nobody but me will touch it.)
I mean, what’s not to like about Thanksgiving?
So I decided to list some blessings. Some things I can think about to turn those blues into red and green sparkly lights.
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- Having a family I really like. You’d be surprised (maybe) at how many people don’t. I wish I had a dime for everyone I know who’s said something like: “Oh, I have a sister, but we don’t speak.” Or: “No, my father won’t be joining us this year. Or ever.” Oh, I do have a few in-laws who are not exactly my favorite people — if you are reading this, you are definitely not among their number — but we can be in the same room without bloodshed.
I even like the Whitmore side of my family. Maybe not each and every one, but definitely the ones you see here!
- Not having to wear a housedress. When I was a kid, all the older women wore those. With orthopedic shoes. And support hose. Now we in the 70-Plus Crowd are clad in leggings. Hmmm…maybe housedresses should make a comeback.
My mom is, fortunately, still going strong — and still has a hand in the fruitcake-making. Tho she does NOT sport a housedress. Or leggings, for that matter
- Being able to boast that I’ve taken a bath with a cousin and an aunt — at the same time. Now that people have such small families — not to mention waaay more bathrooms! — the chances of this happening are slim to none.
Rub a dub dub — three kids in a tub! Left to right: aunt, me, cousin
- Not having to pass the lutefisk. True, I miss my Gramma’s Christmas dinners. (Even the time my Aunt Marilyn read about roasting the turkey in a bag, so she put ours in a paper grocery bag and it caught fire.) But I don’t miss having that big ole bowl of cured fish buried in custard. Yes, some people ate it. My Gramma and my Uncle Ronald, to name two.
Yup. There was a bowl with lutefisk on this table. Gramma and Ronald (to her left) loved it
- Living in a city that decorates itself. I really don’t enjoy putting up decorations. (See “Deck the Halls with Bough of Holly” for my Grinch-like take on holiday decor.) But I do enjoy looking at them. So thank goodness we have plenty of done-by-others Holiday trappings to admire.
I had absolutely nothing to do with decorating this tree
- Having a family I really like. You’d be surprised (maybe) at how many people don’t. I wish I had a dime for everyone I know who’s said something like: “Oh, I have a sister, but we don’t speak.” Or: “No, my father won’t be joining us this year. Or ever.” Oh, I do have a few in-laws who are not exactly my favorite people — if you are reading this, you are definitely not among their number — but we can be in the same room without bloodshed.
Well, that’s it for now. Gotta go get ready for a party. Actually, two parties. Which is another thing I’m counting as a blessing: that I still get invited to places where festivities occur. Cheers!
Nor did I decorate this tree. And I don’t even have to go to the Met –it’s right out my window!
New York City. December 2023
Loved your post, Alice (as always). Aunt Eleanor leaves us with lots of great memories. I hear she is up there with Saint Peter and Uncle Doc frantically looking for a swim cap for her acclaimed swim, not in her much-loved Atlantic ocean but in the galactic clouds somewhere. RIP Eleanor and Happy Holidays to all!!
Omigoodness, Madeleine! I (almost) forgot to reply to your lovely comment. As you can see, you are one of the Whitmores I truly enjoy (!) I certainly hope Aunt Eleanor is swimming in bliss Up There, cap or no cap!
I’m with you in the sometimes melancholy department, Alice. We are Jewish so it has been more than a little hard lately. But we are surrounded by decorations. Ours, as usual, is the only house with no decorations. Other than me in my housedress and orthopedic stockings. Love to you, beautiful lady.
Thank you, O Equally-beautiful lady! I’m snorting my cocktail thru my nose picturing you in orthopedic shoes and a housedress. Thank you for (temporarily, at least) dispelling my melancholy (!)
Your mother and I DID NOT wear house dresses! And, this old grandma sat and drank wine and enjoyed watching the prep and Thanksgiving dinner at granddaughter, Mary Jane and husband Drew’s house … so much fun!
Hahahaha!!! Agree. You and Mom are so NOT the Housedress Type. And agree: isn’t Thanksgiving simply the BEST? (Especially if you can watch and sip while someone else stresses over the gravy!) Enjoy your Christmas Season, Dear Ruth!