When Al and I moved to California, I had to give many things up, but Thanksgiving was probably the most difficult at first.  My Mother always hosted Thanksgiving, and the dining room table would have all the leaves in it to accommodate everyone.  The usual cast of characters was: Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Bertha and Uncle Bob, the twins Judy and Joyce, Aunt Tess and my godfather, Howie and with our family that would make about 13 people, I’m sure some years there were others.  I was the “baby” of the crowd, and I still remember all the hoopla with fondness. After dinner the table would be cleared and we’d play Put n Take, a progressive card game played with two or three decks and included piles of pennies.  I loved that game, still do, but there is rarely a crowd big enough to play it.  It was such a great game because even little ones (like me) could play.  

Howie, my godfather, didn’t usually play the card game.  This is because Howie was a professional musician, and made his living playing piano.  A real honest to God piano man.  After the meal he would sit down and either play while we played cards or many times we would just all adjourn to the living room and Howie would play the standards for an hour or so.  He would just melt from one song into another, no music, all in his head.  I took piano lessons from age 7 on, so I was mesmerized.   I’d sit on the couch snuggled up with one or another of my relatives and just listen.  I always hated it when he’d start to talk because I knew the concert was ending. 

I was pleased to realize while transferring VHS to DVD that when we were all much older, Howie in his late 70’s, he came to California when Mom was visiting and I set up a camera while he played piano for us one last time.  My own children sat on the couch, mesmerized, as I had, while he played.  He complained that he wasn’t able to play the way he used to, but it sounded fabulous to us.  I made a copy of the DVD for Mom and sent it off to her, knowing that it would probably make her cry but figuring it was worth it.  She said it wasn’t until she went to the bathroom and the DVD was still playing, that for one brief shining moment it was if he was in the living room playing, that everyone was sitting in the living room, that she was only taking a break from the party to use the bathroom.   Where had the time gone?  How did we get here so many years later?  How could it all be over?

So now I say my little prayer of thanks for Thanksgivings of the past, especially for Howie and his piano music, that now only floats around the universe, hopefully waiting for us to get to the other side so we can hear it once more, for all eternity.