Life After Windbird, Day 105: Thanksgiving Day Plus One
Date: Friday, November 25, 2016
Weather: Overcast, Rain Late; High Temp 50, Low 42 degrees F
Location: At Home at the Studio, Falmouth, MA
Today I did a tiny bit of Christmas shopping, wrote some emails, did some cooking, and went through a box of Christmas lights that all need to be thrown away. There was not one strand where all the lights worked, so I’ll be buying new lights this year. But I started my day by heading over to Heather and Jed’s to see Jed’s mom, Marti, and Jed’s brother, Toby. They drove up from Washington, DC, yesterday so they could head to Boston today for a day-after Thanksgiving feast with Jed’s Aunt Sue and Uncle John. In respect of family wishes, I have not previously written about the tragic death of Jed’s youngest brother, Ben, last Friday. And I do hope I am not offending by mentioning this now, but I feel the need to pay tribute to a young man that I will always remember with great fondness. Last Friday, upon getting the call from his mother, Jed flew immediately to DC to be with her. He returned on Tuesday, leaving his mother with his brother Toby who flew in from Portland, Oregon. They talked Marti into the road trip north for Thanksgiving, and Heather called just a bit ago to say they had a wonderful day with family. Toby and Marti will stay another day and return to Washington on Sunday. Jed flies to London tomorrow for a week of meetings, so he will not be with us for dinner tomorrow night. But the rest of us are planning a sushi feast.
This week the Goldstones have gone from one day of feasting to another. But they have also been riding the emotional tides of losing a brother, brother-in-law, and beloved uncle. Ben was a very talented musician who loved children. The Goldpebbles always looked forward to visits with Uncle Ben. On this day after Thanksgiving, I give thanks for all of my friends and family and pay tribute to Ben Goldstone—a kind soul who left us years before he should have. But we will always have the wonderful memories of a Ben who loved his family, made his little nephews giggle with his silliness, and brought joy to the world when he played Klezmer violin with absolute abandon. May he fill the heavens with his music.
