More City Stories: Possessing the Secret of Joy (title shamelessly borrowed from Alice Walker)
You love your friends so much that you decide to have a second, mini-Thanksgiving w/ just the 3 of you. It's a rainy night, you arrive exhausted and drenched after walking forever w/ a squirrely umbrella. They are just taking the hot food out of the oven, and turn to you with smiles and hugs. You sit around the small table, the cat purring around your ankles, leaning in towards one another, toasting to life and each other w/ glasses full of water and lemon slices. You can tell them anything and not be ashamed.

Your brother calls you late one night from Seattle. You're on your way out but decide to make your friends wait. He makes you laugh and smile and feel so happy, you think about how lucky you are, and how if he disappeared it would be like losing both arms or legs, or half-disappearing yourself. He informs you that he played a show at CBGB's, and you want to explode with pride and tell everyone whom you see on the street. But you don't, you keep it to yourself and your love for him surrounds you and serves as a protective and beautiful thing as you ride your bike to meet friends at the bar. As people laugh and bicker and buy you drinks and carouse all around you, you are half-there and half back in your childhood, remember when you would cram into the twin bed at night and tell him stories and sing to him until he fell asleep. and how you played catch in the drive-way and explored the church donation dumpsters and each stole things to give to your mom for mother's day.