Happy Thanksgiving 2007

Kath and I have just spent a very pleasant Thanksgiving. We are in Kentucky, our first ever visit to the state. I imagined as we were traveling south that we would have one of those shirtsleeve holidays where the fall sun is still strong and the leaves are on the trees. Not so, it’s very cold, actually colder than Boston is right now. The grass is crunchy underfoot in the mornings and the cars thickly filmed with frost. Still, that’s how Thanksgiving is supposed to be when you come from New England so it feels comfortable and homey.
We’re here with good friends. Diane and Tom, who moved here with their girls from Lexington MA just over a year ago, Simon and Gill who live near Boston, and Ned, who you all know. Yes, Ned is here too. I went for my regular three-monthly scan a couple of weeks ago and received the all clear once more. In fact, the surgeon noted my new friendship with Ned in his clinical notes – “15 months NED” he wrote, underlined it with a flourish, and looked up at me and grinned broadly. I believe he’s quite proud that he introduced us and that our friendship has matured over the months. Well, I’m pleased about it as well.
Thanksgiving day was delightful. Diane’s mum, and her sister Megan and family joined us to make it a warm friends and family affair. We had the traditional turkey dinner, which I was able to do far more justice to this year than last. I even had a small dessert, although I knew it would double me over with stomach cramps for a while, and it did, but it was pumpkin gelato pie so well worth a short period of torture.
So I’m doing well. I haven’t posted to the blog for a long while, so I thought I’d provide a quick update. This has proved a very positive year for Kath and me. This is our fifth trip away from home this year – cancer can be a very motivating disease. We were in Costa Rica in January, the UK in March, Canada and Alaska in April/May, the UK and Cyprus in October, and now in Kentucky. Seize the day.
The UK/Cyprus vacation was very special. I turned sixty in October and we had planned a visit to Cyprus with our younger son Kevin to coincide with my birthday. Kevin owns a property there. Till the last minute I thought that our other son Chris and his family were going to be unable to join us, but the day before we left he said that they were going to join us as well. So it was a very special week in the sun with kids and grandkids all around. For my birthday, they organized a day trip on a boat up the north coast of Cyprus, swimming in the warm waters of the Mediterranean, lunch on board, brandy sours, surrounded by family. It was a day to remember.
I am a very lucky man, with much to be thankful for.