“Happy Thanksgiving” you all. Awake: 6:33am Temp 39 sleep 7+06 sunny overnight @ Lodi, CA.
Nick calls from Seattle with a “Happy Thanksgiving” message. K & I share talk time; he tells us that Jerry knows a total of (30) words now; ½ Japanese, ½ English.
Kathy is busy this morning making a chocolate cream puff cake for dessert later.
We arrive @ Mary Jo & Ed’s homestead around 2:00pm. Everyone looks healthy; Jenny from Fresno, however, has a slight cold & announces that message to avoid close contact with us. Brian & his dog Chewbacca (Chewy) from San Diego are the best of buddies. Muscle man Matt, when he returns from working out @ the gym, wastes no time in flexing those biceps, triceps & the DeVinci version of the last supper tattooed on his left arm. Ed is looking very relaxed & cool sitting @ the kitchen table while Mary Jo has that concerned look about her as she checks the BIG turkey baking in the oven & other dishes for the Thanksgiving dinner. I take pictures of Brian & Matt as they reveal their colorful & meaningful tattoos on various parts of their bodies.
We find chairs to sit on & update ourselves on what’s been happening since we’ve been together last. Jenny continues working for the county of Fresno as a family & marriage therapist; working mostly with troubled children & adolescents.
Brian continues working in the computer field in San Diego; mostly solving software glitches with business clientele. He is also the # 1 man in keeping his dad’s (4) computers tuned up & working properly @ his business in Lodi.
Matt has returned to college & is working on a degree in correctional science to hopefully be a prison guard & later maybe a counselor.
By this time, my patience had worn out & I couldn’t take it any longer. I had to ask Ed if he would show me the latest classic car added to his collection: the indomitable 1955 Chevy; & what a beauty it is. Ed is very cautious & insightful when picking out these muscle cars; he opens the trunk, hood, driver’s door, etc.; everything inside, outside, all around the machine; it’s close to being right out of the showroom. Ed attends rallies & has quite the collection of trophies in his computer room. Hopefully we’ll have a ride in this beauty before we leave.
Boss of the kitchen, Lady Mary Jo suggests that instead of having traditional dessert after our Thanksgiving dinner, we all try a slice of her pumpkin pie & Kathy’s chocolate cream puff cake now & avoid stuffing ourselves with dessert after dinner. Stunned as we were just hearing such a wild idea, most of us went for it & both of the dishes were oh so yummy, tasty & terrific.
After some interesting discussions about all of these different work & study choices, the boss, Lady Mary Jo, begins to voice her concern about having enough table space for feeding (9) people, the largest group ever in their home for a dinner. Brian speaks up with an idea: “why not move the kitchen table into the dining room next to that table” he suggests to his mother. Mother Mary Jo shakes her head; “it won’t look good” she replies. But within (10) min, the discussion was settled, the table moved & really, it looked just fine.
Matt & his girlfriend, Valerie, & her (1) yr old son, Tristan, arrive around 6:15 for dinner. Mary Jo & Ed had met Valerie & Tristan before but Jenny, Brian, Kathy & I had not. We all had questions for Valerie; nice questions, most of the time. Some of them rather personal but nevertheless, she answered them more eloquently then we had expected. Later she admitted to us that she was “scared” about meeting so many & didn’t know what to expect. But, she was relieved & felt fine afterward. She is in school pursuing an RN profession. She takes very good care of Tristan & speaks well for herself; we do think Matt has found a keeper.
Matt led the Thanksgiving dinner prayer, then the food was quickly passed & our plates filled to overflowing; everything was very, very delicious. Lady Mary Jo was greatly relieved & smiling nicely. It was a big job for her & Jenny & we all voice our thanks & highly compliment Mary Jo especially for her dedicated labor of love.
We did have some more dessert maybe an hr after dinner…only because it was sooo good & Val had brought a frozen pumpkin cheesecake. Then Jenny begins to tell us some war stories of her therapy work with young children; extremely challenging profession she has chosen.
Little Tristan fell asleep in Matt’s arms & shortly after that, Matt took Valerie & Tristan back to their apartment in town. We say our goodbyes & “thank you” & leave Ed & Mary Jo’s house around 9:40pm. This gathering was a wonderful experience for us.
Late DVR movie: “The Bad & the Beautiful” with Kirk Douglas, Lana Turner, Dick Powell, Gloria Grahame, Barry Sullivan, Walter Pidgeon, etc. Captivating Hollywood story of ambitious producer (Douglas) told via relationships with actress Turner, writer Powell, director Sullivan. Solid, insightful, witty, with Lana’s best performance ever. (5) Oscars. 1952. Beautiful results came out of Douglas’ bad behavior; most definitely check it out.
Lights out: 1:13am
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