Reviews

Holiday Greetings -- With Icing on Them

12/24/2018

Decorations by Anjali

Our granddaughter Anjali came over Sunday to pick up some cookie utensils.
She's driving now. Having a very good year.
Marianne took out her assortment of cookie-decorator tools from holidays past. The two of them huddled over a kitchen table, trying to put together one gadget for spreading icing.
There was Christmas music on WQXR-FM. I stood and watched this very sweet moment as.two artistic and orderly minds collaborated to get it together.
I thought about our holidays when our children were young; I thought about the way my parents managed to have a clutter of presents for five children. How did they do that?
What a blessing to have two of our three children in town with us -- one grandchild in a school concert the other night, another popping over since she earned her driver's license,
Grandmother and granddaughter smiled and agreed. All systems go. Anjali tootled home to work with her parents on their cookies.
A few hours later this photo came pinging onto the smartphone.
Tomorrow we get to sample.
From our family to all our friends, including those who glance at this little therapy web site:
Be Well. Happy Holidays.

Laura Moll

12/24/2018 11:04:31 am

Lots of love to all the Vecseys

George and Marianne Vecsey

12/24/2018 03:34:12 pm

Dear Laura: How nice to see your name. I know Laura V keeps up with you. Marianne treasures the talk she had with Nessa. Our thoughts with your family. G&M

Alan Rubin link

12/24/2018 11:53:58 am

Very nice when grandparent and grandchild do things together.

When she was single, Jen and her cousin visited Sandi's mother in Miami for a week to learn how to bake challah. We look forward to it every Passover.

I hope that Anjoli's baking is an addition to and not a replacement for her photography, but tastes do change with age.

A great holiday season to all.

George Vecsey

12/24/2018 03:38:29 pm

Alan, thanks, maybe she is, and maybe she isn't, but she's doing very well. We can always benefit from the elders. Only a few years ago, Marianne got a few lessons in Kosher ovens (she keeps one side for dairy to accommodate friends) from the mother of a friend we were visiting in NJ. Best to you and Sandi and your talented family. G&M

Mendel

12/24/2018 12:05:25 pm

Happy Holidays, George. That's a good-looking cookie. Enjoy your family and keep making memories for the next generation of Vecseys.

George Vecsey

12/24/2018 03:42:21 pm

Mendel: It's nice when the generations share information. Marianne used to ask one grandmother about the secrets for soft, chewy ginger snaps. It wasn't until much later that she realized the secret was -- an under-performing oven! Best to you in Jerusalem. keep writing. GV

Altenir J. Silva

12/24/2018 06:11:32 pm

Dear George,

What a beautiful portrait from your family, my friend.

We wish to you, Marianne and all family a Happy Holidays with a Wonderful 2019!

Celia, Neo and Altenir

bruce

12/25/2018 02:17:39 am

george,

best of the season to you and your family.

we have five generations now. all in the vicinity, but couldn't quite manage all of them on saturday.

another get together today.

bruce

Michael

12/25/2018 05:37:11 pm

I’m late to this thread. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year George!!! I love your blog. Thanks for all. Best, Michael P.S. Boxing Day in England means lots of football tomorrow!! ⚽️⚽️⚽️

George Vecsey

12/27/2018 08:20:35 am

Michael, I let Boxing Day get away....I think you have two teams in the Round of 16? And the championship site. You going?
Thanks for your presence here.
GV

Charlie Vincent

12/26/2018 01:47:18 pm

George, I hope you and all of yours are having a great holiday season. The memories you evoke about the days when our own little children were gathered around the tree are poignantly sweet; we now celebrate not only with children and grandchildren but great grandchildren, too, and they are omnipresent reminders of what a blessed life I have lived

George Vecsey

12/27/2018 08:26:48 am

Charlie: Nice to hear from you. Great grandchildren! We're not there.
Enjoy the time. It is a blessing to be around other generations and not have half the brain thinking about why a coach or a player gave you a surly answer, or an editor asked you to do something you don't want to do, or how you will connect two distant sites with minimal airport madness. I think I've matured a decade or two since shutting down that distracted whiny corner of the sports-columnist brain. To every thing, there is a season. Your thoughts?

Peggy and Ed Martin

12/27/2018 10:51:03 pm

“In the Light,” George, Marianne and Vecseys everywhere.

charlie vincent

12/28/2018 01:31:05 pm

Precisely why I retired at age 59, George. I had a wonderful and fulfilling career -- starting at age 19 with a weekly paper in Victoria, Texas -- and never got out of bed thinking "crap, I've got to go to work.". I experienced the same things you did -- a sports editor who wanted me to write a column saying the Tigers should trade Trammell and Whitaker (obviously a suggestion I did not take); Willie Mays displaying his surly side to me during All-Star week 1971); finding a way to cover three bowl games between Christmas and Jan. 1. But 99.9 percemt of it I loved. By age 59 though we had a few bucks in the bank, I felt my talents had eroded some and we determined to see grandkids do thing we were unable to see kids do, because of our work sked. I turn 79 in March, am relatively healthy, and still revel in time with kids. grand kids and great grands. Last month I drove from central Texas to Foley, Alabama, to see a grand daughter -- who is a college senior -- play in the college club soccer championships (they lost in the quarters to UCLA). I am a fortunate man to have had the career I had then to follow it up with a long retirement enriched by family experiences.

George Vecsey

12/29/2018 08:39:35 pm

Charlie: wow. that was young. Nowadays, the business leaves people, not the other way around. Austin Murphy of SI is driving an Amazon truck -- made for a great piece on line. Good journalists can't get a gig. And people think they are informed by social media. I'm glad I hung on til 71...actually 73, doing two years of contract work, before the Sports of the Times column pretty much vanished.
Different time. I have more time now to be useless around the house....But the times with my wife and our family are precious.
Do you ever have work dreams? I do. They involve logistics. Getting places. Not the work itself. Well, you are in a good place. Be well, GV

Angela McKenzie

12/28/2018 11:36:54 am

I completely understand your pleasure in watching your lady and granddaughter making cookies. My joy and contentment were similar, as I watched my 5 year old grandson help decorate the Christmas tree. He was delighted with every item he managed to hang. The simple joys of life can never be underestimated

George Vecsey

12/29/2018 08:41:19 pm

Hi, Angela. Great to hear from you -- and to have seen you this year, after a long time. Nothing like a 5-year-old to really feel the mystery and beauty of the season. Enjoy the time! G&M

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Holiday Greetings -- With Icing on Them

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