On Christmas day, I felt like doing some­thing low-key, with­out the large gath­er­ings usu­al­ly asso­ci­at­ed with this time of year, so I decid­ed to spend it with Joel’s fam­i­ly. Hanukkah had already passed for them; it was just anoth­er day. Charlotte, who learns from Nigella Lawson, cooked a tremen­dous meal of roast beef, beans, and secret pota­toes. Even the dessert was a fan­cy form of choco­late pot mousse, made from 70% cocoa Lindt and all­spice.

We set­tled down with a lit­tle Gamecube, and I taught them Dutch Blitz, which we played well into the night. By the time I left, my spir­its were up again.

It was a nice mix­ture of young and mature. A place where I could shut off my brain and be a kid, but have a thought­ful con­ver­sa­tion too. They real­ly made me feel like I was one of the fam­i­ly.

I arrived with hand­shakes and hel­los, but left with hugs and kiss­es.