YES!!!!

     There is nothing like an emphatic YES!! and a fist pump to indicate the joy of something, the triumph of something and that is what I use to describe this Thanksgiving week. We were all together, even the one in Israel as he Facetimed in and California arrived in a surprise visit at 6 AM. The noise level was probably violating some decibel rule, but what a good noise it was and how good it felt to see all the cousins interacting, laughing, hugging and the parents reverting to childhood, what with old routines and jokes, the retelling of escapades and Gerry and I - we just absorbed. And of course grabbed all the hugs and kisses we could get.
     Over the week it did not end. The reconnection was terrific on all levels. One kid could not keep out of the tree, climbing high and making me nervous. Very different from watching a child do that. Grandchildren worry you more. The little one was as bright as the sun, chattering away, vacuuming input as quickly as he shared his output of information with all, willing or not! And my two big boys? I am so proud of them as they have retained their sweetness and kindness of youth and are right thinking as well! Yay Hillary!!
     As for the gaggle of girls,14 to 16, all five of them? Delicious. With one I reviewed history of the world and we tied it to themes that have lasted forever. With another we discussed Lord of the Flies and I had to pull memories from 27 years ago, the last time I taught it. We discussed Ralph and Jack and Piggy and the Beast and the inner meaning of it all. With another, I had to dig out prehistoric memories of The Crucible, last studied in high school! Yet another seems to have been blessed with a technical skill with video making and such that leaves me confused! to say the least! And what joy to talk of one's skill in writing and how to transfer it to the real world as a career. My joy runneth over. But - never go shopping with five teenage girls. Instant insanity, never mind the cost! And never mind that it was difficult to gather one's thoughts with two little boys chattering in one's ears at 5 or 6 AM as I tried to write. I loved it, to tell the truth.
     Today is final goodbye day as the last crew leaves to begin a long drive back. As usual we remain for one more day to help straighten up, clean up, and ship out the lost and left behind belongings. Tomorrow it is home again for us, right into a crazy schedule and I cannot wait for Saturday, my day of rest. Sometimes it is good that time flies.
     So until sometime tomorrow all of Trump's stupidities and exaggerations will wait and all the doings of the Village will wait. All the fear of the renewed violent anti Semitism will wait as will the hatred that appears to be growing amongst the peoples of the world. All the bad can be set aside for yet one more day. And I can dream of the  next family reunion and wish that if only the world would understand the joy of love and togetherness and put aside the nonsense and the truly unimportant, what a better world we would have. Simplistic, I know, but one can dream, correct?