Passover '19

So WAZE told me it would take 50 minutes to drive to D1's in laws for the first seder. WAZE was wrong. It was Good Friday, and so traffic was light, and Wifey and I breezed up there in about half an hour. I found a gas station and filled up, and then we parked down the street and waited a few minutes -- as Wifey correctly points out, no one wants to be the first guests to arrive.

Fortunately, my fellow gringo Rick was on time, and after he and Susie pulled in, so did we.

 Jacqui invited us in. They're wonderful hosts. Soon all three of their sons and both daughters in law were there, followed by cousin Rachel and her three lovely daughters from Mexico City. Another cousin, Ernesto, also arrived.

We toasted with vodka, gin, and wine. Vera, D1's sister in law, had said she really enjoyed the Stag's Leap I served her TDay. I brought another bottle, and she and he man Bob enjoyed it.

The seder was lovely. My son in law Joey wrote an updated Hagadah last year, in honor of his late grandfather, who is his namesake. We took turns reading, which took about 20 minutes, and then we feasted on salmon, brisket, wild rice, salad, and grape leaves. Dessert was halvah Wifey bought (she's now the halvah-back girl), and Susie's delicious mousse and cake (she owned a gourmet bake shop in Lima, and it shows).

Everyone smiled. Everyone laughed. There was no squabbling. One of the Mexican girls spilled wine on the floor. Jacqui laughed at it. It was delightful.

At the end,  the family did  two Sephardic traditions. The first was having everyone say, while holding matzoh, where they were from, and where they were going. The latter answer is "Jerusalem," which is how all seders end "Next year in Jerusalem."

The second tradition is taking the affikomen, the special matzoh, and cutting it into small squares, which are then wrapped in paper and taped up, and given to each guest as a lucky talisman for the year. I dutifully turned my piece from last year, and accepted the new one. I noted that no trucks had run me over during the past year -- so the thing works. You can't argue with success...

We said goodbye, and Wifey drove home through the rain -- with me as a navigator. We got home around midnight. It had been a delightful evening.

Yesterday I slept in, and got a text from Josh, my nephew of another mother. He had dropped his brother, in for Passover, at MIA. Did we have plans? We did not, and he came over for some coffee. We caught up and compared seder notes, and then went to lunch. We tried Wagon's West, but they had a line, and defaulted to Flannagan's. He pulled my old trick -- feigned a bathroom break, and grabbed the check. I was proud of him, and even though never want him to pay, was gracious and thanked him.

At 630 we walked over to Lili and Jeff's -- hosting us for dinner, along with Loni and Mike. Jeff made a delicious salmon, and I brought another bottle of Stag's Leap.

The three of us dudes met in '83, as we started law school, and our humor goes back to that time, except in the 80s no one was discussing prostate glands or sleep studies. Wifey told the group that our Ds had staged an intervention last year -- they wanted her checked for early onset dementia, which, was, thankfully, negative, and we all laughed until we cried. It had come to this, then.

Lili made and served her famous flourless chocolate cake. We polished off another 2 bottles of wine Lone had brought, and we called it another lovely night.

Today is Easter Sunday, which means the Palace will be packed with visitors. Wifey and I will visit late -- after the crowd is gone. It's an impossibly gorgeous Sunday -- temps in the 60s, and bright sun.

We have one final Passover event -- Rabbi Yossi and Nechama invited us over Thursday, at their house. We agreed, and will get to see their kids, all nine of them.  With that we will say adios to the unleavened days -- we get on a plane Friday night for SFO.

But this year was a banner Passover. We're so blessed with who D1 married...