With Songs in Our Hearts

Over the river and through the wood? Or leaving on a jet plane? What song describes how you’re spending the Thanksgiving holiday weekend? I’m thinking mine is “You’ve Got A Friend.” My parents opened our home to friends and neighbors every Thanksgiving and now my friends are doing the same. The blessings I’m counting this year are the human kind, including my fabulous Miss Demeanors posse! Cate: I’m doing Friendsgiving! Tracee: My song this holiday is anything by Edith Piaf or Charles Aznavour! I am in NYC with my husband and his French speaking Swiss friends so there is a strong French theme. The theme was nearly ruined when we were in a French Brasserie eating to the music of Simon and Garfunkle followed by The Beach Boys. Alexia: My song is “Alice’s Restaurant”. Not really Alice’s. Probably the Deerpath Inn’s Restaurant. Theonly thing I’m making for Thanksgiving is reservations. I’ll spend the rest of the day being thankful for the chance to sleep in and for time to work on my manuscript. I’m going home to visit my parents for Christmas so Thanksgiving is just me and the cat. And I’m cool with that. Susan: I’m thinking John Denver’s Country Roads, Take me home/To the place, I belong. I’ve been going to my uncle’s house for Thanksgiving almost every year of my life, and you have to drive on a lot of country roads to get there, and he has a huge window, and when we walk up to the house and I look in the window and see all my family there, I know I’m home. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I feel especially blessed to have the Miss Demeanors in my life. Tracee: These are each and every one a perfect plan. Paula: This Thanksgiving it will probably be just me and Michael, for the first time in a long time no kids will be here. But that’s OK. I love Thanksgiving and even if all of my children have abandoned me (no guilt there), I am content to light the fire and roast a turkey and drink all the Old New England Egg Nog I can. Old New England Egg Nog is made with, and I quote here right from the label, “Kentucky Straight BourbonWhiskey, Rum, Brandy and Blended Whiskey.”Happy Thanksgiving, all! Alison: Ooooh. There’s something so wonderfully wrong about that eggnog. Paula: Well let’s put it this way: Most people object to eggnog because it’s too thick. But this eggnog is not, thanks to all the booze. Also: My 82-year-old mother loves this eggnog, and the first Christmas we served it she got drunk. It was really awesome, because none of us had ever seen her drunk before. (Except of course my dad, when she was very young.) Getting my mother drunk has now become an annual tradition now LOL Cate: My song would be a mashup of Britney Spears’ Work, B**** and I Can Cook, Too, all sung by Pink, and remixed by Marshmello.I gave this a lot of thought. I think it encapsulates needing to finish a rewrite by the end of the month (I’ve had four weeks to do it in total) and preparing food for my family and friends. Michele: I’m traveling back to Boston after a week in hurricane ravaged St. John which got another dose of heavy rain while we were there. I’ll go with Bridge Over Troubled Water this Thanksgiving. Besides I still ❤️ Simon and Garfunkel. Paula: I realize I totally forgot about the song. Part of my ritual every year is to listen to Christmas songs while I prepare the meal. My favorite is I’ll be Home for Christmas, which I listen to while stuffing the turkey and drinking, you guessed it, Old New England Egg Nog. Alison: Okay, so I get to be the bittersweet one. My song is “Good Old Days” by Macklemore featuring Kesha. My brother, sister-in-law and adorable niece and brand-new nephew moved from Brooklyn to LA this summer. For years, Thanksgiving has been an amazing feast with both our families–and whoever else was around–at our place upstate in the middle of the woods. This year, we’re lucky my father-in-law is joining us, but it will be a small affair (and the last Thanksgiving before my daughter graduates from high school). I can’t deny I’m not missing my wonderful brother just a little bit…and thinking about the good old days. Robin: Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!