I must confess to more than a little envy of my Canadian family and friends, the beneficiaries of snowy weather in the past weeks, enough to lay cover for a White Christmas that I’ve been able to enjoy in photos that fall like so many snowflakes in my Facebook feed.
This season Mary and I had the pleasure of an extended visit from our daughter, Kate. While we didn’t dash through the snow on a one-horse open sleigh, we were joined by a reindeer (Thurber, in his asymmetrical antlers, photo to come). Not for long, of course. Thurber soon got his jaws around the antlers and that was that. We’ll need to buy a backup pair for Christmas 2013. Or just a pair to put on him during the year to remind him who's boss.
We had our fun, the three of us. On Christmas Eve we discovered a new movie tradition: “How to Train Your Dragon,” starring Hiccup and Night Fury (Thurber’s new nickname), and Christmas Day joined millions of Americans – quite unlike us to do such a thing, but hey it was “Les Miserables” – at the movies. Later, we supped with our people, the Jews of New York, at first waiting for a table at a Chinese food place before settling on Thai.
This past Saturday, we went to the Milwaukee suburbs to celebrate a life: Rosalie Morris, my wife Mary’s mom who passed away 18 days before her 100th birthday. Ro, as she was known by family and close friends, was always a loving supporter of me, her Irish-Canadian son-in-law who she came to call Larry O’Cohen. Family and friends gathered for a delicious lunch catered by Larry’s Market of Brown Deer Village (visit for a nosh and a conversation when you’re in the vicinity http://bit.ly/7qVMso) and told stories, both old and new, of Rosalie, whose husband Sol died seven years ago at 102. With genes like those, Mary will be around for a very long time … Which is certainly epic news for me!
Wishing everyone the best of everything in 2013!
Next: Running for Your Life: Cold Weather Running Tips
