Chasing Joy

It’s Thanksgiving week!

When I was growing up my mother used to have huge crowds for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, she was a perfectionist so all the planning and cooking and setting up did not bring her much pleasure. She set the table days in advance and warned us to stay out of the dining room and to keep ourselves and rooms clean. We used to joke that if she had her way we would be showered and dressed on Sunday for the following Thursday! I personally always looked forward to Thanksgiving day because we woke up early and my father took us to breakfast and to a movie. He was ‘helping’ my mother by getting us out of the house, but really we were all just having a great day.

As a result, I love Thanksgiving and I am very laid back about the whole thing.

Every year I spend the weeks before the holiday searching through cooking sites and reading recipes as if this is the first time I have ever made a Thanksgiving meal. Everything looks so delicious- I want to make it all. In the end, I end up cooking all the same things I always make because everyone loves them and tradition goes a long way.

We are not a turkey family, so I make a yummy salmon dish filled with all the things that we avoid like the plague all year (cream, butter). It is delicious. My son Lexy loves sweet potato casserole with melted marshmallows. Everyone pushes back (except Lexy) saying it is too sweet (it is not); and why ruin perfectly good potatoes by adding melted marshmallows. But they protesteth too much! At the end of the meal, there is never any left. This year I found this recipe that made a case for marshmallows’ rightful place on top of the casserole. After years of marshmallow pros and cons- I love the backstory.

I am also making this yummy tried and true vegetarian chili for the people that don’t eat fish. It’s a great recipe for any time in the year, but I think it will be happy at the Thanksgiving table too. I told everyone else to bring their favorite sides or whatever they want to cook. It all works out.

This has been a grueling year in so many ways. I am cautiously hopeful that things are getting a bit better- though we don’t see it yet. A glimmer of light filtering through the dark clouds.

In the spirit of the holiday, I want to share three good news stories that lit me up this past week.

This man followed a whisper :

“Eleven years ago, Paul Lundy was dying a slow, workingman’s death under fluorescent light. ... One Sunday morning in 2014, he opened The Seattle Times and found a feature story about Bob Montgomery, age 92, known to friends, customers and locals simply as Mr. Montgomery. The article read like an obituary for a vanishing trade — fixing typewriters — suggesting that when Mr. Montgomery went, seven decades of expertise would vanish into the digital ether. Lundy read it once, then a second time. He had never given old typewriters much thought, but something stirred in him that he could not quite name.” NYT (Gift Article): How to Fix a Typewriter and Your Life.

I want to be this happy at 101:

In a small town in northern Italy, there’s a barista who has been brewing espressos and serving coffees for more than 80 years. She’s still going strong as she turns 101 this weekend.

And we should all be these women:

In Austria, three nuns, all in their 80s, recently ran away from a nursing home. They broke into their former convent in defiance of church orders, determined to grow old on their own terms. These sisters are now taking Instagram by storm, and they’re being supported by a growing community. Someone said it could be the next Whoppi Goldberg sequel to Sister Act!.

I will be back next week with more about The Next Chapter (you still have all of December to sign up!!!!)

Until then- I am wishing you a peaceful holiday filled with as much joy as you can chase down. I know it is not always easy, but be kind to yourselves and be kind to each other.

I am so grateful for all of you.

Much love,

P.S. I saw this movie on Netflix over the weekend. Oh my god- it is so good. And I read this book in one sitting. I loved it.

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