Helloo Cousin Lloyd

He comes from Manhattan bearing gifts.

Food. Ready to eat. From his personal chef across the street, Citarella.

And I do. I had just injected 10 units and was gonna eat at home when Mom called saying her first cousin Lloyd had just arrived.

He got a lil lost bc his iPhone malfunctioned. In the middle of giving directions, the woman must have had a heart attack, fallen unconscious, and was out for the count.

Lloyd was just around the corner - Red Lion and Philmont - and Mom and Ellen talked him through, like a plane coming in for a landing where the pilot has passed out from lack of sleep.

 Mom used to babysit for Lloyd. When he asked her what it was like to die, she answered, You go to sleep. The lights go out.

Lloyd is a psychologist and has 16 clients. He's giving a talk at a conference about Unity-Consciousness. I think. Similar to being In the Zone or The Flow.

This was my second helping.

Baked salmon with a mayo sauce on top.

Greek salad with wonderful grape leaves, feta, and veggies.

Yumpers!

La piece de resistance was this Chocolate Rugelach, studded with chocolate chips.

Exquisite except if you're insulin-dependent.

We'd been talking about addictions. Gambling, alcohol and how they're in the DNA.

Where's the Sweet Tooth Gene?

Mom said she'd had her sweet tooth extracted at the dentist. Mom! You started the whole thing.

Ellen ordered this new TV set for Mom in the family room.

It was only $200 but the remote didn't work.

When I arrived, Ellen was at the store buying new batteries.

What, for her head, I asked.

No, for the remote.

They worked!

Lloyd and his wife Kate watch Channel 13, the PBS station.

Since Kate couldn't be with us, she sent flowers from a shop in Abington.

Lloyd is a jogger and told us a story about his mom, Aunt Marion, and her second husband Uncle Phil.

They used to live in the luxurious Presidential Apartments in Philadelphia. Phil's problem was he was not uxorious.

Dyou believe I told Lloyd the plot of my newly finished novel My Father's Keeper.

The good thing is I remembered what it was about. He thought it was fantastic. At least I think that's what he said.

First thing I did when I got home was to check my blood sugar.

It was slightly low!!! So I ate four Triscuits with Yancy Champagne Cheddar I bought for a dollar off at the Giant.

That cheese, which I ate for the first time, is a WINNER.

 We oohed and aahed at my sister Amy's quilt and talked about the various artistic talents in our family.

Lloyd's mother Marion was a fab artist. He showed me a photo of her painting on his iPhone. Boats in a harbor next to a wooden pier. Aunt Tay was also a painter.

We agreed that the Family Room is quite lovely. Amy and Rich were married there. Me and Millard were married there.

Mom and Dad were married at 2128 Marlindale Road, Cleveland Heights, 18, Ohio.

"I held the chuppah," said Lloyd, along with his brother Dick and probly Mom's late brother Uncle Don. Who was the fourth person?

Could it have been

  Uncle Benny?