Thanksgiving 2007

Juanita met me early Thursday morning at the Newark International Airport. She, Antonio and I decided to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV since Antonio was sick and we were all too tired to go into the City even though the weather was warm for Thanksgiving - in the 60s. David's family--his aunt Majorie ("Re"), nephews Michael and Matthew, Michael's wife Sonja and their 2 children had driven up from Atlanta. Later that afternoon, we met them at the bus station in Rutherford, NJ and took the bus to Times Square where I bought a lottery ticket and won $20! We walked to Virgil's where we enjoyed a traditional southern American Thanksgiving dinner of turkey, creole pecan stuffing, seafood and duck gumbo, spinach, green beans, mashed potatoes, biscuits and pecan pie for dessert. Juanita had her camcorder with her and filmed the family around the table. Everyone agreed that the best part of the meal was just being together.

After dinner, Juanita, her aunt and I walked to the Port Authority where the Firefighter's memorial stood near a newstand containing the names of all the NY firefighters who lost their lives in the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11. The bus took us back to Rutherford where Juanita has a condo. The adults enjoyed champagne while the children played games and watched a movie on TV.

Juanita had arranged Friday as a "guys' day out" and "girls' day out." It was a cold, blustery day. The temperature had dropped significantly from yesterday's 60s down into the 30s. All the men went back to NYC for more sight-seeing. Juanita took the women to her bridal shop in West New York, New Jersey, an hispanic community, where she had a final fitting for her wedding gown and picked out her veil and tiara. We lunched at Noches, a Hispanic restaurant, where our waitress could speak little English. We just pointed to the items on the menu that we wanted. Aunt Re had us all laughing when she stuck out her tongue and pointed to it as if the waitress could understand that she wanted water! Since Juanita could speak a little Spanish, we got by okay.

After lunch, it was time for some early Christmas shopping at a large department store in Manhattan, Centry 21, where we rejoined our men folk. Juanita found some curtains on sale and some gloves for Antonio. I found Antonio a nice red wool scarf that had been $65 but I got it for $29. I bought some postcards and a shot glass as souvenirs too.

After we agreed to meet everyone back at the hotel for some family time together before saying goodbye, the women stopped at a Starbucks for hot chocolate because it was freezing cold and the wind was blowing hard. Juanita's father's family had driven all the way from Atlanta for this Thanksgiving visit. They were needing to head back for the long drive home Saturday morning.
I spent a quiet Saturday at home with Juanita and Antonio, helped Juanita make a special chowder from Emeril, and watched a movie, "The Day After Tomorrow." That evening, Juanita dropped me off at Kinko's so I could send e-mails while she got a manicure. She picked up Antonio from the barbershop and we met her father for dinner on me near Juanta's dance studio.

Not being used to the cold weather of the northern United States, Antonio, Juanita's husband from Jamaica, stayed in bed Sunday morning while Juanita took me to the airport. My flight was overbooked so I volunteered to give up my seat in exchange for hotel accommodations Sunday night, plus 3 meals and a voucher for $500 for travel anywhere Continental flies. I stayed in a Howard Johnson's hotel near the Newark Airport Sunday night. Monday morning, the hotel shuttle service took me to the airport and I got back to Richmond that afternoon and went to bed!

Thoughout the holiday as we traveled into the City, I became keenly aware of all those serving as waiters in restaurants and hotels, as well as the department store clerks who stand and wait on customers bustling about the counters for the best buys while rummaging through neatly folded stacks of clothes. I watched them as they worked and was reminded of the words of John Milton in his poem, "On His Blindness."

"Thousands at his bidding speed,
And post o'er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait."