MountainMornings

Every morning I fire up three news sites on my computer: The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the BBC. Two out of three yesterday were all about how Mr T will “allow” Biden’s transition team to proceed. Allow? This is the way an abusive spouse might speak; guess what, the American people really didn’t need his permission. Numbers don’t lie, the Biden/Harris team was going ahead just fine without the GSA.

But I guess reality, not a TV show alternative reality, has to set in sometime. Today we hear that Joe Biden described the White House help on the matter as “…not begrudging.” Why do I find that so amusing? Mirriam-Webster defines begrudge as, “To give or concede reluctantly or with displeasure.” I mean, did I miss something; has Mr T conceded?

Teenagers are the ultimate begrudgers. Parenting at this point especially, is all about patience. If you ask them to empty the dishwasher for instance, 9 out of 10 times their performance will be halting and begrudging. After all, they have better things to do – playing video games, texting, maybe even homework? I learned a long time ago not to expect compliance along with a good attitude when dealing with the pre-teen and teenage set. A simple “Fine” would suffice.

Just getting the job done, with or without a smile, was good enough for me.

Getting Mr T behind us come January will be just the start of a transition for the ages. Great Grandma Ada used to say, “Everybody’s in transition!” The friends she would meet to paint with were scattering around the country. Her friends were moving to be closer to family. Only Mimi stayed put in NJ; nearly 99, Mimi is a legend in our old community. And she showed up to honor her friend Ada at the graveside service.

This Thanksgiving, there will be an empty seat at our table. Our family will celebrate on Friday since the Bride will be working tomorrow. We are all honoring her in our own way; I will light the candles on her mother Ettie’s candlesticks for the sabbath, Bob will say the prayers, and the Bride will wear her bluebird necklace. We’ll watch the final screening of the Rocker’s documentary film about Ada.

Her abundant love will be forever present, no matter how many transitions are yet to come, begrudgingly or not. And since Brookdale is still in lockdown, I hope that Hudson can patiently wait until Friday for his plate of turkey with all the trimmings.