Monsignor the Celebrant

As I stay the same, people around me are getting older and things are changing, including customs and traditions and living arrangements. Linda and I have stripped our house of possessions and gotten rid of everything extraneous in prep for moving. Though this might sadden some folks, we are making an adventure of it and eagerly looking forward to simpler, downsized in a condo. Staying at the Beach for a few weeks has been a trip in how life can be if we make it happen, so we're gonna. In 57+ years of marriage, this will be our first time moving just because instead of on Navy orders or to another church. It’s quite exciting. 

We’ll have Thanksgiving dinner at the house, but the rooms will be empty and echo as little girls run and shout. They’ll have sleeping bags, because their beds are gone. There’s a queen bed upstairs that needs to come down to Joe’s empty room before he arrives for Christmas, maybe we can manage that because the girls want Christmas in Nana and Papa's big house, the way it's always been. 

And I hate to paint, but Linda intends to paint at least two of the four rooms upstairs to make them speak more quietly to home buyers walking through. The four upstairs rooms, walls and ceilings, and carpet too, have been shades of green and cream the last 17 years. Now the rooms are empty, time to freshen. Plain vanilla. 

And it doesn't have to be turkey for Thanksgiving, turkey and pumpkin pie. An NYT article this morning suggests sushi. 

For dessert, camouflage ice cream. 

How American! I’m good for all of it.

See, I'm not aging.

W