Sunday before Thanksgiving

Thirty years ago I was heading for my honeymoon at the American Club in Kohler. We came back to Appleton in time for Thanksgiving dinner with new in-laws, Abe and Jane. We had an apartment on Kools Court, although I had not yet moved in my furniture from Milwaukee. That was a week or two later, in a rental truck, in a blizzard, with Dena's brother, Diar. Happy that it was a one-way rental. One of the things I despise most in life: moving furniture, especially an entire apartment or home. Don't want to count how many full blown moves I've made in my life, but I am sure it is more than ten, less than fifty.

Three years ago Dena and I were with Gaby in Los Angeles. Jane joined us and we had the gift of the Levine's condominium in Santa Monica as our home base. Those were heady times, with our first visit to see Gaby after her first eight weeks at school. She was busy, finding her way, making lots of friends, enjoying the major university lifestyle while working hard to perform at a world-class institution. Jane was in her senior year at Marquette and we remembered how three years earlier we had visited her in October for Parent's Weekend. These are both exciting and sad times for parents, these first visits to see their daughters at college. Parents cant help but feel proud and excited for their daughters in their new endeavors, such a huge leap from home, a small, all-girls high school, and parental proximity. Sad too, as this is the first big step in adulthood, moving out, and moving on from family life with four of us at home. The college choice was going to impact Jane and Gaby in a manner beyond what even a college-educated parent can imagine. Neither Marquette or UCLA were anything like my college, nor would their experiences be anything at all like my college experience. Although Dena is a Marquette alum, and that fact played a role in Jane's choice of colleges, Marquette was not your mother's university. Much had changed between 1989 and 2014. It was like the shocking difference between Ed and Paige's Penn State 1945 and my own experience at Penn State in 1975.

Last night I started to bring up and put up some Christmas lights. We woke this morning to frost on the ground and live-streamed Mass with Fr. Carl from nearby Holy Spirit. I added to our pledge to Holy Spirit with a donation to the Bishop's Appeal. And then bought a snow plow for our riding mower! Sister Fran called; brother Joe is with her for a holiday visit. They were waiting for Mary Ann to bring breakfast over to Marion Place. Gaby is packing for her flight home tonight. Jane is probably going to drive up to Harrison in time to greet Gaby tonight. Despite the crazy uncertainty in the world today, we will have the four of us together and plenty of reasons to give thanks, to experience joy, and to remember family, friends and events from our past. That's the real meaning of Thanksgiving, any year.