11-28-02 - 7:52 a.m.
once you lose loved ones to death or distance or divorce, you learn to find new traditions. take me, for example. i work holidays, and give some deserving member of my staff the day off. i may appear caring and benevolent, but in reality i'm selfishly filling a void left by a mother or brother or ex-husband or lover. in my picture perfect hotel, happy families are gathering to give thanks. the whole place stinks of roasting turkey and blessedness, and tomorrow, the trashcans will bear the fruit of today's labor. empty wine bottles and poopy diapers and pie tins. i love it. at home, berries is doggedly preparing a bird and all the trimmings to impress her new beau, kyle. the three of us will sit down to an enormous turkey and laugh, because kyle's wisdom teeth were pulled yesterday and berries really doesn't like turkey, but what the hell. i do.