The Thanksgiving Plague, or How I Almost Died in a Coal Mine

Thanksgiving 2008 will always be remembered by my family as the year my grandmother brought a stomach bug to dinner.

Mammam Edie was a lovable curmudgeon. None of us — her children or grandchildren — ever had any doubt she loved us, but often her affection took the form of reminding us we were pains in her ass. She was stubborn and feisty and straight-talking…