What a lovely visit those five days were. I spent a splendid, bright Christmas Eve afternoon with the Devincenzos, Tim and Danielle, and Jen and John Bucci. Then Christmas Eve at church, and I was invited afterward to a celebration at the Ortmans, where I saw many old friends and many now-grown-up Coming of Age kids. Christmas Day (rain, rain, go away) was at home with Jeri and Sabine, watching The (original) Santa Clause and that movie about the Elf and not getting out of pjs until about 2 pm.
On the 26th (rain, rain, go away) I dashed to the Rabinowitzes to give Richmond a small gift and to catch up on the honeymooners. Mike apparently overcame his doubts and went diving on the Great Barrier Reef. I can hardly wait for all the trip tales.
That was followed by lunch with Alice at a really good and authentic Greek restaurant (the name is Stamna, folks, in the same block as Holsten’s, next to Tartuffo) and then we saw “Up In the Air”, which I thought was very good and very bittersweet, and which left Alice totally bereft. What you expect to happen does not, and the ending is very ambiguous. Patrick was rhapsodic over the Long Trail shirt. It’s nice to see Patrick more outgoing and dare I say cheerful. I hope he can find a way to make that last.
Sunday, a gorgeous day, Jeri, Sabine and I spent out near Phillipsburg and Belvedere, as close as you can get to the Water Gap and still be in NJ. The occasion was a holiday gathering of all Sabine’s family – siblings, step-siblings, and all the children. Some came from Maine and even from Denver, with the Georgia contingent coming on Monday, so I didn’t even meet them all. The gathering was just wonderful. I was welcomed as warmly as though I’d joined them for years.
Sabine’s stepmother is a delight. She’ll be 80 this year, a tiny German woman who is a whirlwind. She’s a top-selling (multi-millions in sales) realtor, still selling full time, and she takes on good causes. She’s run a holiday food drive, including grocery store donations, for years, and a toy donation campaign that this year included electronic stuff for teens, because “we get so many plush toys and Legos, and there is nothing for the teenagers who feel most left out”. But more than that, she treats every one of her stepchildren (I think that between first and second marriages there are 6 children) as though they are her own, and the grandchildren, nieces and nephews are all “hers” as well. Nothing seems to get her down. I wanted to take her picture but she would have absolutely none of it.
She is not a Grandma Texas clone but they could certainly be cousins. The life in those women was/is something to behold.
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