Vincenzo's Birthday 2020

 Today being November 30, I am continuing my annual tradition of celebrating my brother Vincenzo's birthday.  We would always double up the celebration- Thanksgiving, then Vin's birthday.  On one epic occasion, we managed to collect a large group of Vin's high school friends and sneak them into the house (they all parked around the block) while Vin was sent off on an errand.  Vin had no idea that the plot was afoot, and his surprise to see a few dozen friends in our living room was total... my older brother, Sweetums, managed to snap a photograph of the look of utter bewilderment on Vin's face when he realized what had happened.

A few years back, while the U.S. Army had Vin stationed in Vicenza, Italy, I visited him and his family for Thanksgiving, and stayed until his birthday- Sweetums came down from Switzerland, and I traveled with him to Zurich to spend his birthday with his family.  It was a perfectly timed vacation, hitting a holiday beloved by my family and two sibling birthdays.

Unfortunately, the pandemic put the kibosh on any travel this year, so the traditional Thanksgiving/Vin's Birthday combo had to take place via text messages.  I even miss catching Vin's spirited doggo, who is inordinately happy that Vin is working out of home, chewing on my sneaker.  On Thanksgiving, I told my slightly bummed-out mom to hold out for Easter of next year as the earliest feasible holiday to salvage.  This is a busy time of year for us, with holidays and family celebrations, so there is a real sense of missing out, so if things take a turn for the better, 2021 is going to be a banner year.