Families

Wifey and I have long admired our friend Norman's extended family. He used to be married to Julie, and we'd visit for birthday parties for their 3 sons, and it always seemed that everyone got on so well.

Norman and Julie split up a few years back, and Norman married Deb, a very classy Canadian. They now live in a beautifully renovated house, and yesterday hosted a New Year's Day brunch. We still admire their family...

There qwas Norman in the kitchen, making waffles for his nephews and nieces, as well as the kids of some of his law partners. His parents, blessedly still alive were there, along with his sister and brothers, all with their now grown kids. They're an old Miami Jewish family, and seem to truly savor their time together.

As we left, Wifey turned to me and said "Well -where is THEIR family pathology?" I'm sure it's somewhere, deeper, but surely not apparent, and being among them was a stellar way to start 2010.

I spent the rest of the day watching college football and taking a prodigious nap. I only left the house later, briefly, to drive the girls to Blockbuster (tm) to take out a TV series. We talked about the demise of that company, due to NetFlix and all the computer availability of shows. We remembered going to the video store when the Ds were little, on a Saturday night, and finding it packed with families renting movies. The Ds realize their old enough now to watch corporate births and deaths...

Today, Wifey and I are doing the octogenarian circuit --first visiting ancient Grandma Sunny, and then taking HER parents for a late anniversary lunch, at some diner they like in Broward. In the back of our minds is the question of how many more turns of the year these 3 will see...

The Ds, D1's boyfriend Thomas, and D2's friend Rebecca, are going to see a pop performer called Lady Gaga. It's at the Knight Center, attached to the hotel where Wifey and I married 23 years ago tomorrow.

As a former English major, I can never let symbolism pass, and this week was DRIPPING with it. D1 attended a New Year's Eve party across the street from South Miami Hospital, where she was born, and now BOTH Ds are heading to a show in the same buliding where our family started. Joyce and his Dublin ain't got nothing on us!

Paths cross, people come, and people go. A lot happens...