My trip to Seattle for a visit with my daughter was exquisite! I live far-enough away from my kids, and have spent so much of my life away from any of my family, that I treasure any time that I get to spend with them.
Thanksgiving was especially meaningful for me this year. My biological father drove up from California, and my brother (who also lives in Seattle), was there, too. It was the first time in nearly 30 years that were in the same room. I walked through my daughter's door to hugs all around...and just in time to make the gravy. Friends came for dessert and we had a fantastic evening of eating, games, music, and dancing to the likes of War, Relax, and Twilight Zone on YouTube! Happiness, for me, truly is in the little things.
My son-in-law is a Jazz trumpeter. He didn't have any gigs while I was there, but did sit in with Flexicon at The New Orleans, which we adults enjoyed Friday night before Jo left on Saturday. During my entire visit we only went to two 'tourist-y' places: Pike Place Market and the the Space Needle. I got to see a couple of fish thrown at the Pike Place Fish Market and, of course, went to the gum walls outside the Market Theater in Post Alley, which is below Pike Place. The Space Needle was exceptional as, in addition to the views, Santa was there with his Space Sled. My grandsons were thrilled at the opportunity to tell him what they want for Christmas. We went to the parks, coffee shops, and bakery that Janet and hers most-often frequent, and I got to see the boys' schools.
We spent most of the week just hanging out with each other. We went to Caffe Ladro in Fremont (another daughter's home-away-from-home while she moved 'back home' last Feb.), looked at houses in Capitol Hill, looked out over Lake Union at Gas Works and Golden Gardens parks, and capped the day with a visit to the Fremont Troll. It was wonderful going to the places where my loves have enjoyed spending so much time while they've lived in there.
Of course, the most wonderful thing about Seattle was spending so much time with my baby and her babies. The week just flew past. If my daughter was going to be staying there, I would be making plans for a Seattle-bound move within the next two years. As it is, though, she and her family are preparing to move to New York City at the end of this month, and I don't think I'm ready to move to where I have no kids within half a country!
Three years ago I spent Thanksgiving with Janet's family in Newport, RI. I plan to continue the tradition and spend Thanksgiving 2011 with them in New York City. I suppose I'll be ready to move there after a week, too. ;-)
