Thankful for Thanksgiving

Dear friends and family,

This has to be a first: our son Harvey forgot the annual family photo taken at this time of yea, so I don't have one to head this blog. It was very sweet to be with all four of our sons and three of our five grandchildren, as well as our two daughters-in-law, Sandy and Debbie; Sandy's beautiful and warm sister, Barbara; Barbara's significant other Matt, who took lots of individual photos that I hope to see soon. Also Sandy and Barbara’s father, Murray, for the first year without his wife Lee. He is doing as well as I hope Merwin will do. And I spent quite a bit of time with Dorothy, our son Arthur's mother-in-law. Arthur and Debbie were married two years ago the day after Thanksgiving, so they have agreed to forget the date and just celebrate anniversaries on Thanksgiving. His children are most likely spending Thanksgiving with their mother and her parents. Debbie's son, the mysterious one who never shows up, is a real person, we have heard, but busy with his medical residency. There were a few others there too, friends of the family. But mainly this was a family affair.

I distributed the necklaces I had gotten from Louise, an extraordinary artist, to Sandy, Rachael, Laura, and Michelle. Since I probably won't see them during Hanuka, I wanted to give them their presents early. Debbie and Arthur will be with us next weekend when she will get her present.

The feast was magnificent; Sandy as head chef, aided by her three daughters, had made wondrous side dishes, perfect for this vegetarian. I didn't even have to look at the turkey: my plate was full!

We managed the drive to and from Connecticut without incident, listening to a talking book, a novel by Anna Quindlan, a writer I had enjoyed years ago when she wrote a column in the NYT.

We had a motel room, which enabled us to rest for an hour or so in the afternoon, and of course avoided the drive home at night.

So on this day when I was supposed to go with Merwin to the Philharmonic but couldn't (he is going with Laury), what am I thankful for? I have mentioned the family: what could be better than these loving, caring, good people? And here alone, I enjoy what I see. High up in the bedroom, a new little window (where there was an air conditioner until last year) shows fir branches waving in what seems a stiff breeze, with glimpses of bright sky beyond. I love this window and view. The bright reds and oranges in other windows have until recently overshadowed this little scene, but now it comes into vivid play. In the other windows, bare branches predominate, but the birds have not vanished: they flock to the bird feeders. I don't see naked branches as bare ruined choirs bereft of birds that Shakespeare wrote about. Like my dear friend Vaughan, I appreciate their architectural grace.

I am thankful for good friends, many of whom have written to tell me what I have meant to them. Better now than saved for the memorial service!

Work is a source of constant pleasure: I am thankful that Laury has sent our Measure for Measure edition to the general editor and the publisher. No doubt they will ask us to make changes, but for now it is done. I am almost finished with the essay Laury wanted me to write for her collection. Let's say penultimate draft. I can begin to turn more totally to hamletworks.org, the project that has given me so much pleasure in the making for many years, I am grateful to all the scholars who have contributed, especially Nick, one of my fellow editors and Jeffery, our brilliant and creative web master. And Michèle and Jesùs, and so many more.

Family, friends, work, nature, music—the list goes on.

Love to you all, so precious to me,
Bernice