Patti and Tom stopped by on November 2nd and surprise - Mom's stone was up!

November 23rd was Mom's birthday and also happened to fall on Thanksgiving this year. We toasted Mom, ate an amazing lunch, listened to the grandkids laugh and shared a heap of desserts: pumpkin pie, Dad's banana-whip cream layer cake, carrot cake baked by Nora, and a flourless chocolate torte, which I'm fairly sure would have met Mom's chocolate requirements as it was a recipe I got in Italy.

Speaking of...Dan and I did end up going to Italy 🇮🇹 as we'd planned, mostly because it felt so fitting: Mom loved her trip there. I felt her with us often, but a few times in particular. One was when we had the most amazing sandwiches at A'Marenna, which was run by just two laughing sisters. Another was in the Duomo in Florence, when we lit a candle.

Everywhere we went, someone was singing, too. The two sisters? Singing joyfully along to the radio as they sliced bread. The taxi driver? Humming a tune. Guy serving gelato, tourist in Pompeii, lady at the market, you name it: Everyone sang. Dan said that it finally made sense to him, it must be genetic, because Mom sang ALL the time. 🎵🎶

Anyway, not much else new to share. Go hug someone you love, and sing wherever you are, even if you don't know the words. ❤️