Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s that time of year again, when the family packs into the car and drives to Grandma’s house for a day full of thankfulness and fellowship. Where everyone gathers around the table and shares what they are “thankful for” and how happy they are to be together on this holiday. Then everyone hugs and smiles and then quickly jumps back into the car, and goes to Grampa’s house…’cause Grandma and Grampa got divorced many years ago, even though it was taboo then. And you get there and everyone is smiling and having a good time. They’ve already started eating, because no one was really sure of when you were going to get there and they got tired of waiting and there’s a hint of resentment in the air because you went to see “that other” family before you came to see them. But after an hour or two it gets forgotten…because it’s thanksgiving. You make nice with Grampa’s new girlfriend. And you’ve tried to pace yourself and not eat too much at one place and downplay how much you ate at the previous house to ensure that each side of the family feels like you’re more a part of that family than the other. All the while you are looking forward to Friday when you have “fake” Thanksgiving with the complete other side of the family, who was nice enough move Thanksgiving for everyone…Knowing full well at least one member of that part of the family only has that one Thanksgiving to go to which isn’t on Thanksgiving, and you envy the simplicity of their schedule until you realize they’re watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” alone. And then heaven forbid you accidentally call some one by the wrong name, or forget that one house is predominantly Catholic, one Baptist and another a mixture of bitter/jaded formerly religious agnostics with Wiccan tendencies who are planning a kick a** winter solstice party. And the part that you’re thankful for is that you get to do it all over again in a month. Or is all that just me? Too personal? Well, you can relate. Happy Holidays!

-Ben