I thought I was tough. I thought I was wearing my big girl panties, and handling being away from my whole family for Thanksgiving just fine. And then the day arrived, and there was no one to share a cup of coffee with this morning, no one to bake a turkey for, no one to tease me when I got excited to see the Hello Kitty balloon in the parade. The middle part of the day was very difficult. I waited for a long time for the man to show up online. Apparently he was invited to several Thanksgiving dinners during the day, including a football party for the Lions' game. The later it got, the heavier my heart got today. Eventually he appeared, but by then I was already down in the dumps, and had a hard time pulling myself out. I may need to rethink my "I'll just skip Christmas and save everything for his vacation" plan for next month.
Luckily, I was not alone for the entire day. We had a huge Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat, with the superfriends over at the Bonfire house. The food was terrific. Everyone showed up with their specialties, from what I can tell. I do not know what I would do without these people. Of all the backup families to have, this one is overstuffed with love, much as we all were overstuffed with food today.
A large percentage of the Bonfire crew originally hailed from Pennsylvania. Tonight, right as we were beginning to serve our plates, we were instructed to mute the football game so that we could listen to Alice's Restaurant in its entirety. It was suggested that this was a Pennsylvania tradition. (Turns out that song is in my Oklahoma tradition, and my man's Colorado one too. I was pleased to participate.) When I heard the hissing and popping, I realized it was being played on the original vinyl, which was an even better nostalgic flashback. Back in the dark ages, I used to own this particular vinyl pressing as well. While it played, as we prepared our meal, several of us were grooving to the record, singing along a line here and there. It's the closest I have ever been to a spontaneous re-enactment of the kitchen scene from The Big Chill.
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