Jessie At Home
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Thankful

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We spent the holiday weekend with my family in Beverly, MA. My mother is the oldest of 11 kids. Her parents and about half her siblings and their families live in the Beverly area. It is really the only home that has been constant through my life. There have been other places that have felt like home, but when you live in 7 different states and over a dozen different cities in the first 30 years of your life, “home” isn’t as permanent to you as it is to most. I am trying to change that. But, as I said, Beverly is the one place that has been home to me for my whole life. Every time we drive in, I feel a wave of calm and peace.

We arrived Wednesday night and checked into our hotel. Doug and the girls gave the beds a check.

Testing-the-hotel-bedPin

Thursday we had a small Thanksgiving with my Grandparents. We had a large Thanksgiving II planned for Saturday, so the small one on Thursday was nice. Later my Uncle Mike (also my Godfather) my Aunt Nancy (also my Godmother) and my Uncle Gary and his family all came over to visit.

Thanksgiving-2014Pin

We spent Thursday night at the hotel, and on Friday we went back to my Grandparent’s. After lunch we took a trip to visit my Great Aunt Carmela and her husband, my Great Uncle Red. The girls made a fort on their stairs.

Fun-on-the-stairsPin

My grandmother and her twin brother were the youngest of 9 kids. Aunt Carmela is the next youngest. Her husband, Uncle Red, was in WWII, stationed in Italy. He truly was a hero. So many medals. So many stories. Doug really bonded with him. Every time we would visit, Doug would sit with him and listen to his stories. Uncle Red loved telling them, and Doug loved hearing them.

A while back Uncle Red begin a losing battle with cancer. When we went to visit on Friday, we knew it was most likely the last time we would see him. Doug told him that when they read stories that have to do with WWII in his class, he shares some of Uncle Red’s stories with his students. When it was time to leave, I knew I was about to say my last words to Uncle Red. So many things raced through my head. Should I tell him how much I admired him? Or maybe I should tell him that I loved how he always joked around and made me smile. Or that it was an honor having such a hero in my life. Or how much I respected and admired him and Aunt Carmela for taking in their grandson with Downs Syndrome. Or how happy it made me to see so many wonderful marriages ~ like theirs ~ in our family.

I went with the most important thing. The one thing above all else that matters the most.

“I love you, Uncle Red.”

“I love you, too.”

OK, last words to someone you love are not fun, but those were the right words.

We went back to my grandparent’s and Kyla asked Grammy if Aunt Carmela was her twin. Grammy laughed and said “no.”

I pointed out a photo on the wall. “You see that man?” I asked Kyla.

“That was my twin.” Said Grammy, “and that is me.”

“What’s his name?”

“His name was Johnny.”

“Is he dead?”

“Yes.” (He died in the Korean War)

“But he’s your twin.”

I started crying. There was something about it. Like it never occurred to Kyla that twins could ever be separated. Like she thought she and Vada would be together forever. And as much as I always knew it had been hard for Grammy to lose Johnny, suddenly I felt it more than I ever had before. I only cried for a moment, I managed to pull myself together. It is so odd, the things that can break you like that.

Anyway, this is really a happy post. Mostly, at least…

Friday, around 4 pm, we drove up to my Aunt Diane’s house in NH. It was only about a 45 minute drive. We had a great evening with Diane, her husband Greg, and some of their friends. We crashed there for the night.

Saturday morning I helped Diane get ready for Thanksgiving II, as she was hosting the craziness. There were about 40 plus people there. Most of them relatives. It was wonderful, fun, crazy, wicked awesome, and other nifty words. A good time was had by all. And we are Italian, so we know a good time.

We stayed one more night with Di and Greg. Sunday morning we drove home.

This morning Diane called me. Uncle Red passed away.

I have so much to be thankful for this year, but most of all, I am thankful that I got to have those last words.

I love you, Uncle Red.

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