Some traditions get derailed just a year after you try to get them off the ground, such as the Friendsgiving dinner that Kira and I did but once – way back in 2019, which feels like a lifetime ago. It went so well that it merits a repeat try, now that we are vaccinated and able to meet up semi-safely. This was also a weekend away that I badly needed; so much stress has been building in my family and professional worlds, and I have felt it expanding to the point where I have announced to anyone in my path that there are no more fucks to give. That’s been a dangerous frame of mind to carry in the past, but it’s also quite freeing, and there’s something to be said for such freedom. Boston has always been a place of escape and calm for me, as has my friendship with Kira, and taken together they formed a welcome return to emotional form.
Boston was ablaze in autumnal splendor, thankfully holding onto its leaves and flowers this late in the year, and the city granted us two days of sunlight and relatively warm weather.
A gingko tree sang like a canary in a coal mine, all glory and luminescence with the impending danger of losing it all.
After making a perfunctory walk to get some dinner supplies along Boylston, I returned to the condo to wait for Kira’s arrival, setting up the holiday decorations and a charcuterie board.
While the weekend was slated to be our Friendsgiving celebration, our first night was just a return to what we enjoy best: comfort food and each other’s company. After over a year apart, Kira and I did some catching up that went beyond our sneak preview of this reunion. She is one of those friends whose affection and understanding remains undimmed by the passing of time or the difficulty of distance. We picked up where we left off, as much as the world had knocked us about, and we found gratitude in our friendship again.
The holiday spirit warmed the condo as we ate and talked and ate and laughed and ate and ate some more. Candles flickered as the evening closed, and we put on ‘Home For the Holidays’ to lull us to sleep. Our second Friendsgiving had begun…
