glenwood

I just got back from spending Thanksgiving in Glenwood with my extended family. It’s become a tradition the last six years. No one I know lives there, we all just go and stay in a hotel and eat Chinese. My aunt pays for my family.

I only stayed two nights this year. Everyone was there. I even got to see my Uncle John, some cute little cousins I don’t see often, and (**drum roll**) my sister Jacque! I got to pick her up from the airport and have lunch with her on the way.

While we were there our Uncle John (who really likes to spend money on his nieces and nephews) took the four oldest grandchildren to Aspen to shop. Jacque needs a formal dress for the graduations in January and August. We went to Gap first and he bought us all a few things.

Then we went to Christine Doir for the dress. A woman with a beautiful but implacable European accent greeted us at door. She showed us a few dresses; all of them too low cut or otherwise mature for my little sister. Then she took us out side to show us a dress in the window. It was way better, wine colored and quite elegant, imho.

The woman took us back inside and started showing us a dress magazine. She said that she was willing to take the dress down from the window, but only if Jacque really wanted it. “…because,” she said, “it is a princess dress, it costs $4,200.”

At this attempt to discourage my (**coughwealthycough**) uncle offended him. He brashly stated that he was paying for the dress and he would buy anything Jacque wanted. (Right here I must pause and explain that our family hasn’t always had enough money to buy food.) At Uncle John’s words my very snow-white sister paled. I hadn’t thought it was possible but it was clear she wanted nothing to do with a $4,200 “princess dress.”

After that store we looked through about a dozen others and found a whole lot or really expensive nothing. My Uncle got very frustrated, but the rest of us had fun.

For Thanksgiving dinner we went out to eat and had salmon. : 9