A ROUNDABOUT HAPPY THANKSGIVING WISH (SOME HOLIDAY RAMBLINGS)

I had hesitated to talk about Thanksgiving wine selections because quite frankly everyone else in the business does it. Man, if you want to drink a big ass Cab with your turkey dinner, or a big, buttery, oaky Chardonnay, I say go for it. I can argue that you’ll be mucking up your palate for all the sweeter things on the table, like the sweet potatoes, cranberry relish, pumpkin everything, but I have always been more of a drink-what-you-like kinda person.

Yet in thinking about Thanksgiving Day and what I myself will be taking up to my mom’s in Dayton, OH, I was in the car listening to NPR, and they were talking about siblings and how different they turn out to be most of the time. There was this whole sociological debate about how environment plays a big role, not in making siblings become more similar, but far different than anyone had realized, and while listening to the cadence of this young journalist’s narration, I started thinking about my sister and growing up in a rather tense household of Dad being sick (he was a Type II Diabetic) and Mom being depressed. My sister and I had a lot to deal with, watching our parents become overwhelmed with everything, including us, and it took us in strangely different directions, she the more responsible route of working hard, getting her real estate license, while I tried to be a rock star, and lived in the looming shadow of a Keith Richards rock god personae.

Thanksgiving always meant getting together twice – once at Grandma Brennaman’s and once at Grandma Keith’s. Grandma Brennaman (Mom’s mom) was in the Belmont suburb of Dayton, and we’d come together with all the cousins, devour huge amounts of turkey and stuffing, and when old enough, my cousins Tim, Mark and I would scour the neighborhood in search of a couple of other guys seeking to escape boredom and play some driveway basketball (rain, snow or shine). The drive to Grandma Keith’s was exceptionally long, as my sister and I would groan about eating too much in the backseat, while Mom and Dad had their usual under-the-breath arguments about simple things, like most married couples do.

By the time we’d finish eating, we’d get home late in the evening to my Mom’s turkey and stuffing, and we’d snack on it before nodding off somewhere other than our beds, belching and drooling until morning.

It has been many years since those Thanksgivings. Both of my Grandmothers have long passed away, and getting together hasn’t been as elaborate as when I was a kid. I’ve come not to overindulge so much, partly because our family has become fairly small, partly because my wife can’t really deal with the long haul to and from our hometown, but mostly because the day is not about gorging one’s self into a food coma, but it’s all about being together with family and friends, and being thankful for what you have in this life. I can climb up on my soapbox and bellow about all those fathead narcissists that run (or ruin) our government, but we make our own worlds, and we can choose to be happy or miserable. I have always been one of those guys that tends to look at the glass as half empty, and my wife is usually always there to point out I am much more fortunate than I think. And she’s right. I am pretty fortunate.

These days anyone who has a job should feel pretty fortunate. But I am most fortunate for the three women in my life: my mom, my sister, and my wife. I know I have a bit of a temper at times, and when the world comes crashing in, I can be a real a-hole, but I love them all with everything I have. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for any of them. And this year, it will mean the most to me just to sit with them for a few hours, all of us in the same place, at the same time, and take a little time to be family.

As for the wine, I will probably leave it at home. Many of you are probably gasping profusely right now, but being the biggest wino in the clan, I don’t need to get all shloshed in front of my mom. Besides, there has got to be enough room for pumpkin pie when all the turkey is done.

Here’s wishing all of you a Happy Thanksgiving. Cheers!