when in santa monica, Adam remembered fondly last year's thanksgiving. herewith an excerpt from Linda's blog 11/28/07:
One of the main accomplishments was the building of a shed in the back yard...on a cement pad that was designed for a shed. Got the largest that would fit comfortably (4x6) and it is holding Adam's things, some of which he had brought up earlier, and a lot from this trip (papers, books, things that need a temporary home)....
Thanksgiving dinner was yummy. Linda made the turkey, David did most of the side dishes. Daniel and Jeremy (my 2 sons) came for dinner and we all chowed down. There are leftovers. Of course.
Nath Brophy came over (was it Thursday night? or Friday?) with a delicious cranberry pear pie that she had made. Really tasty. We want the recipe. Undersweetened, as promised and wonderful. We hope she made it back home in time to drive to the airport for a long weekend in Manhattan. It was pretty close timing.
Livi flew up yesterday morning. Brought fabulous bagels with. Daphne our arborist came to do the first dormant spray and ate a full turkey plate before working. Her timing was just right, and she took home some pie and coffeecake.
wow, Adam. good memory. good memories too. i had no clue. it's been a long year.
one drawback of not being with family for the holiday is that i/we missed out on sharing together a memory of Linda, maybe especially for the holiday, maybe more generic. i wonder if anyone else did that. if i were to have said something, it would be something like this: i remember how much Linda loved to cook and share meals with family and friends. i remember the first thanksgiving at the house on Tamiami Trail in Akron, just the two of us, my first introduction to the family's traditional cranberry relish. family was so important to Linda. may we celebrate Linda by continuing to cherish family, whether connected by blood or by choice.
tonight at the group Vicki (the facilitator) distributed a few handouts. one was things we will always want to remember and other things we need to remember to forget. important to know. next week i will bring the photo of Linda that i keep at my desk (purple frame, big smile) and the handout from the memorial service to share.
and two small readings, one of which i share here:
We walk innocently into our griefs, and they carry us wherever we have to go in order to learn, to find meaning, to reach some kind of peaceful acceptance. We cannot control them; we ride them like a runaway horse. Our job is to stay on until the horse calms down and we are allowed to talk awhile, to retake the reins. (Christina Baldwin, One to One, 1991.)
unfortunately, the cloud cover tonight made it impossible to see the lovely closeness of the crescent moon, Venus and Jupiter in the early evening sky. thanks Jay for pointing me to the information. maybe tomorrow.
