lunch with my sisters (lyn)

Jean (my youngest sister) is coming to New York (from Boston) to see Bruce Springsteen.  I think this is her third time seeing him for this tour. She’s a huge fan.  Valerie (my middle sister) is joining us.  She suggests a restaurant near Penn Station.

I am the first to arrive.  The maître d' is welcoming, as he knows my sister and brother-in-law well.  He seats me at a nice table; I order an ice-tea; and the waiter brings over some bread and crudité.  I take out my phone to play Words With Friends while waiting.  That's when I see Val's email:  the venue has changed.  

I apologize and leave.  I meet my sisters, as well as my brother-in-law and his sister Jill, at a restaurant nearby. Jill mentions that we are lucky to have such a nice blended family.  We are.  Jill and her family feel blood-related to ours. 

We are a healthy group.  I am drawn to a veal dish, but since everyone orders some kind of salad, I do too.

By the end of the meal, I have volunteered to research:  how does one get to be a delegate (not that anyone at the table would ever want to be one); how does a student register to vote for the first time; will a NYC student going to school in Ithaca need to file an absentee ballot (all hypothetical, of course); and what’s the name of that movie about the financial meltdown that was so good (Inside Job)?

Valerie doesn’t want me to ask the waiter to take a photo, as the restaurant is filled when we sit down and it would be too embarrassing.  But by the time we leave, the restaurant is empty, and so I ask.