“ Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer; and let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.”
“Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer”
By Maya Angelou

What a great thought this is by Maya Angelou, especially with all the terrible things that are going on in our world. Thank goodness we have wonderful holidays like Thanksgiving when we can get together with our families for dinner. We marvel at Cousins Margie and Janet, who will have 25 relatives at their holiday dinner. They have been planning for over a month. They are delighted that their nephew David and his wife Courtney, both in the military, are able to be in Boston this year with their daughter Olivia.

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I must mention a wonderful group of men singers whom we heard when we attended the annual Boston (State) Teachers’ College alumni luncheon on Nov.1 at the Charles River Country Club. It was the Metro West Barbershop Group. The group of 14 started out with “Keep Your Sunny Side Up.” They performed “Nothing Could Be Finer.” They followed that with “’Til We Meet Again.” The men, who sing a cappella, were so lively that they had us singing along with them. The spokesman for the group told us that they rehearse in Framingham. My friend and classmate Barbara is very active in her hometown of neighboring Natick. She went up to the group and asked for their business card. She gave me their phone number (781-424-7150) if any of you would like to contact them. They are terrific! I also must mention that I was sitting next to a great gal from the Class of 1957, Norma (Ross) Casey.

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I am positively floored that the Braintree KMart Store will be closing very, very soon. Cousin Janet called last Saturday morning to tell us that the closing ad was in that day’s Patriot Ledger. For many years, I have bought my everyday clothes there: blouses, the other tops, sweaters, slacks, and jackets. I would watch what was for sale that week and go down and buy maybe one item. In recent years, we’ve also bought a great deal of canned cat food for our outdoor cat Louie. I’m so sorry to see the place close. We even got to know some of the employees during our weekly visits. Parking was so easy there, also. That store will be missed.

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On Thurs., Nov, 19, Hubby and I were in the car ready to drive to Canton for the monthly Mass and luncheon for the Irish Pastoral Centre. I was sorry to receive a call from pal Eileen Burke, saying that she wouldn’t be accompanying us that day. She was “under the weather.” We discovered that she wasn’t the only one. Our “Southie” friend Lucy had a bad cold and stayed home. Our friend Ann had a doctor’s appointment. So it was just Peggy, Ronnie, Hubby, and I who were at our table that morning. A little later, we were happy that Mary and Kathy Joyce and Barbara and Ann O’Sullivan sat with us.
I was delighted that my friend Mary Vinciguerra was sitting at the next table. She came over to tell me that Sister Mary Hannon, of the Sisters of Charity of Halifax, was with her. She told me that Sister was celebrating her 90th birthday that day. Best wishes, Sister Mary!
Fr. Dan Finn, our chaplain, was celebrating our Mass that morning. He noted that November is the Month of Remembrance, beginning with All Souls Day on Nov. 2 and Veteran’s Day on Nov. 11. Among the names of the deceased that were mentioned during the Mass, I knew Norah Gorski. Fr. Finn mentioned that he saw the 150-foot Statue of Liberty when he was in New York. At the foot of the statue are the words: “I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

Near the end of the afternoon, Susan, who is the interim “senior coordinator,” announced that her voice mail will begin taking names for the December luncheon and Mass on Monday. I must mention how many people were on the dance floor that afternoon. Mossie Coughlin certainly plays well, and the floor was crowded. The December Mass and luncheon will be held on Thurs., Dec. 17.

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We no sooner arrived home from Canton than we had to get ready for the annual Thanksgiving Senior Supper at the Leahy/Holloran Community Center. Lisa had sent me the pretty invitation several weeks earlier and asked that I put the info in the paper. Since we live so close, we were at the LHCC early. Jill and Lisa were busy showing the volunteers what had to be done. Volunteer “Peachy” Galvin came over to greet us. I love seeing her at these special celebrations at the LHCC. The handicapped people were brought in by ambulance. I did see Escare among the vans. There were puzzle papers (placemats) at each seat. I took one look at the Sudoku puzzles and said to myself: “Where is Daughter Sue? She is a whiz at these.” I neatly folded my puzzle paper and took it home for Sue. (The answers were on the back of the paper but I didn’t look.) There was a large honeycomb paper turkey decorating each table. There was a smaller one, made by our pal, Pat Moran. It was a cute one made from colored art paper. I took Pat’s home with me.

Then it was time for the youngsters to give out the dinners to each senior. Some parents and staff had already filled the plates with turkey, mashed potato, stuffing, veggies, cranberry sauce, and gravy. I wondered which restaurant the center would use since Gerard had catered the dinners so nicely for us for so many years and his food was positively wonderful. I asked Lisa who catered “tonight’s meal.” She told us that Pat’s from Lower Mills catered the affair and donated all the food. Pat, your food was positively terrific. Thank you for being so kind to the center and to us seniors. By the way, dessert was a pumpkin roll (like a jelly roll), with a good-sized amount of vanilla ice cream on the side. There was also lovely coffee.

Then Jill took charge of the raffle prizes, and gave them out quickly, thanks to the young volunteers. I know that there were Dunkie’s coupons and Stop & Shop gift certificates. Pal Loretta Philbrick was sitting at our table, with her friends Mary Shea, Ginny Biagiotti, Pat O’Donnell, and Mary McElaney. We were joined a little later by Tom, who serves as an usher at St. Brendan’s 8 o’clock Mass on Sundays. He was so happy that his St. Brendan friends had urged him to come. He had a great time at the dinner. Also there were Jim and Judy Farrell, Marilyn Ferrara, Marie Shallmo, Jean Buonopane, Claire Linehan, Carol Murphy, Gerry Cardinal, Terry Ryan, and Mary Sullivan. I also saw Irene Duff, Pat Kennedy, Ruth Billard, and Jeanie Bertocci. We were home by 7:45 p.m. It was a lovely time. By the way, Ruth has invited us to Keystone to hear the Black Catholic Choir at Keystone next week. Two of my couins (both redheads) are in it.

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I hope that you have your plans set for Thursday with the family. My family and I wish you all a most Happy Thanksgiving!