When I saw what he was cooking, I said, “Dad, those foods bring back some bad memories for me.”
But Dad laughed and told me not to worry. “Today I’m the cooker, not the eater,” he said. I felt kind of bad when he said that, and I told him he should eat too. Dad patted his belly (which has definitely gotten bigger since he opened a restaurant) and told me he doesn’t have a problem in that department.
One of the things I always like best about Thanksgiving is that everyone is usually in a pretty good mood. But today, everyone was particularly happy.
The ladies from the Happiness Movement were happy, but I guess they always are.
Mr. Sherman, who seems happy whenever he’s around Gaga, looked especially happy.
Even my uncles, Dusty and Drew, were happy. They said it was because we were all together as a family. Truthfully, I think they were just glad they were going home after lunch to watch football, which is something that never happened when lunch was at Gaga’s house because she always made everyone stay for a family Scrabble tournament.
My cousins (with the exception of Harry) were happy because Dad said we could hang out in his office until lunch was ready. It’s a cool place to hang out, so we sat in there for a long time, just eating Tootsie Rolls and talking.
My mom and her sisters were happy. They all had on matching turkey sweaters that Gaga had knitted for them. You wouldn’t catch me dead in one of those sweaters, but they seemed to like them. They were smiling and taking group pictures with Gaga, who looked happier than anybody. Kind of strangely happy.
“Do you think she’s been smoking something?” my cousin Harry asked me.
I’d kind of been wondering the same thing myself. She’s a founding member of the Happiness Movement, so happy is to be expected, but she was way beyond happy. She was giddy, laughing and talking and taking pictures and hugging everyone. Something seemed different about Gaga. And after lunch, I found out what that something was.
When we were all done eating (what I’m sure was the largest and most delicious Thanksgiving lunch in the state of Alabama), Gaga tapped her spoon on her glass to get everyone’s attention. “I’d like to make a toast,” she said. Then she talked for a long time about the meaning of life and happiness.
It felt more like a speech than a toast, but then Gaga raised her glass and said, “Life is all in how you look at things. You can view your glass as half empty or half full or, better yet, all the way full.”
Then she looked at Mr. Sherman, who was sitting next to her. “I have wonderful news. Willy has asked me to marry him, and I said yes!”
I thought my mom was going to pass out. Everyone looked shocked.
“That’s disgusting,” my cousin Amanda whispered to me.
But Gaga assured everyone that she was exceedingly happy about this development, and Mr. Sherman, who said we should all call him Willy, said he was happy too.
So everyone got up and started hugging Gaga. We all gave Willy nice, firm handshakes, and my uncles patted him on the back and wished him well.
While everyone was crowded around Gaga looking at the ring on her finger, which she’d kept hidden in her pocket until she’d made her announcement, I saw my Uncle Dusty look at my Uncle Drew, roll his eyes, and make finger circles around the side of his head like Gaga was a crazy lady and he couldn’t imagine what was next.
I couldn’t either. I thought about how I felt when I started eighth grade. I was so convinced there was an old me and a new me. I wanted to believe that if I stayed positive everything would be great. I had so much to be happy about—an amazing boyfriend, a great best friend, making the dance team.
Things seemed almost too good to be true.
Then I kissed Matt, told Emily, she told everyone else, and everything fell apart with Billy and Brynn and the girls on the team. One day my life seemed great, and the next day it was a disaster. I think part of the problem was that I got so wrapped up in how cool it was to be around the older girls on the team and Emily that I guess I kind of forgot how to be me.
Things are better now. They’re not perfect. But they’re mostly good. Brynn and I are friends again. Billy and I seem to be getting back to normal too. Part of me wishes he was still my boyfriend, but another part of me is just relieved we’re friends. And I feel like part of the dance team again, and the show was amazing.
Being friends with Emily didn’t turn out the way I thought it would, but at least now I know she’s not someone I can trust.
And then there’s Matt. I don’t know if I should put him in the good or the bad category. I’m never sure about Matt. I guess he falls somewhere in between.
And maybe that’s what life is like. There are times when life is good and times when it can be horrible. The good phase might last a day or a week or a month or, if you’re lucky, maybe longer. But at some point, there’s going to be some bad sprinkled in. And when there is, I think Gaga actually had it right.
It’s all in how you look at things.
About the Author
Laurie Friedman was on the gymnastics team in middle school and high school, but her real passion was and still is for dance. She identifies with April Sinclair not only in her love of dance but also in her small-town Southern roots, her questions about karma, and her adolescent confusion over two boys she liked for different reasons.
Laurie Friedman has written more than thirty books for young readers, including Can You Say Catastrophe?, the first book in The Mostly Miserable Life of April Sinclair series. She is also the author of the award-winning Mallory series as well as many picture books, including I’m Not Afraid of this Haunted House; Love, Ruby Valentine; Thanksgiving Rules; and Back to School Rules. She lives in Miami with her family. You can find Laurie B. Friedman on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter, or at www.lauriebfriedman.com.
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