To everyone who asked where I was (and I flatter
myself that you did) ... the short version is that I
was at a non-holiday non-event family gathering in NY
State. [ If you don't care about the long version, you
may stop reading here. ]
Since you are still reading, I assume you are
interested, so here goes. My father Alan and his sister
(my aunt Joan) were very musical, and family gatherings
always included a guitar or two and a lot of singing.
Folk songs, songs of protest, silly songs. My dad passed
away decades ago, but Joan kept the music going. Joan
passed away this past year, and her husband Sam -- yes,
I have an "Uncle Sam" -- moved into assisted living. One
of Joan's daughters recently decided she wanted to get
the family back together for an afternoon of singing,
and the other daughter has a house in the Hudson Valley,
so on Saturday, my family came in from various NY &
Massachusetts locations -- including Uncle Sam -- and
descended on Laurie's house in High Falls, NY. It felt
like a holiday that no one else knew about ... like
Thanksgiving or Passover without the traffic. I don't
know if this was a one-shot deal or will become a family
tradition, but it sure was nice.