A WEHO Guide to Thanksgiving: Family Get Togethers & Safety

I walked along Santa Monica Blvd., the main drag in West Hollywood, thinking I am the PATCH Mayor of West Hollywood, I write the stories I choose to write, then suddenly I remembered the song "I write the songs" that Barry Manilow wrote...and how I spent most of my life being compared to him one way or another...looks-wise...ALWAYS...except the few who thought I looked like the spitting image of Horshack on a TV sitcom, Welcome Back, Kotter, that I never watched and regretted having researched, for this reason only, to find out he was the "Class Clown" on a series set in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, where my father, uncle and favorite Aunt from..."Yes, the one from Ohio," were born and raised, and suddenly I remembered interviewing Barry Manilow's mother, and she didn't even look at me, as if, I was a distant cousin, not to mention, the cradle switchee possibility...NOT WANNABE, no offense.

Then somehow Manilow's less famous lyrics came into my mind, not the chorus that, frankly, I don't think I'll be able to get out of my mind, again, this time, perhaps for fewer years than the first time:

"My home lies deep within you

And I've got my own place in your soul

Now, when I look out through your eyes

I'm young again, even though I'm very old."

If this is what Thanksgiving can do to me, with Barry Manilow's family, don't underestimate what it routinely does to all of us, and some, quite seriously- too many too seriously, that there is no shame in taking precautions on such a family holiday, that some enjoy more easily than others.

My 12 STEP STORE.COM recommends two books in advance of Thanksgiving, and anyone who knows the power of "Recovery Gifts" knows they are timeless, How Al-Anon Works for Families & Friends of Alcoholics, and, The Language of Letting Go: Daily Meditations on Codependency. The store is open until 6:00 PM Wednesday, pre-this Thanksgiving, and its website is good all year round but not for a pre-Holiday rush: info@my12stepstore.com

My go-to guys at Block Party, told me there is no Thanksgiving version of their Halloween sell-out, the Goat Yoga Mask, but mischievously recommended a place setting for each member of the family at more traditional Thanksgiving sit down dinners,

"I'M NOT BOSSY, I am the boss."

This need not be in conjunction with one's choice to wear Thanksgiving drag of any kind, including, as pictured, what 665 Leather is promoting; http://www.665leather.com

Finally I went to the West Hollywood Sheriff's Station, which is front and center in West Hollywood, to find out if there were any specific safety tips they would suggest in advance of the Thanksgiving holiday, and all the ramp up, and I met a new member of the force,

Lieutenant Nagelmann, who will be the Sheriff's station's "Night Watch Commander," this Thursday, Thanksgiving night.

I tried to get him to answer,

Does that make you the boss, as in, in charge, that night?

I couldn't get him to break...either to admit or deny, nor hardly reveal so much as a hint of a smile...I really had to dig in and make sure this man was being treated like the outstanding human being he is.

Lieutenant Nagelmann is newly transferred to West Hollywood and he told me he had requested the transfer because it brings him closer to his family, in drive time, by almost as much as half, of what had been a 69-mile commute each way, at his previous station.

He was as skeptical as he needs to be as any officer of the law needs to be...ALWAYS...for everyone's best protection, especially those people who protect us, even before they make concessions for their own families. When he finally allowed himself to believe I didn't pose a threat-he did require some online PATCH vetting, but I have long term friends who have yet to trust me as being a non-hazard to their health, Lt. Nagelmann conceded to being the "newbie," as we all know what that's like, ever since we always remember being the new kid on the block, in school, etc.

He wasn't complaining, frankly, I think I had put him under such duress to tell me something about himself, he said this is the first Thanksgiving in 27 years, he will be spending away from his family. It left me tongue tied, to be so well-attended and protected by an officer doing his job.

We should at least give Lieutenant Nagelmann a warm welcome...though, I think a round of applause and a parade are in order but I can't even get a City Councilman to return an e-mail, so a welcome is the most I can deliver. Plus...

...Thank you, Lieutenant Nagelmann and all the Sheriff Deputies who keep us safe in West Hollywood. Happy Thanksgiving.