atypical and loving it

Since leaving home nearly seven years ago for university, I think I have spent one Thanksgiving in Detroit with my immediate family. Even before that, I don't remember our Thanksgivings following the typical celebrations of years before through the end of my time in high school. 2009 was no exception to this. This was the first instance in seeming eons that I lived within a reasonable distance from home. And I didn't get there.

Instead, I started working a couple of part time retail jobs through the holiday season. The crazy-go-nuts-busy season for the retail industry. So..my parents came to me this year. They drove to Columbus from Detroit on the morning of Thanksgiving. We had homemade mashed potatoes, Stovetop stuffing, sandwiches made with packaged turkey, and canned cranberry relish. It was fantastic! To top it off, we went to 7-11 that evening for slurpees. The meal was bought and prepared within the space of an hour, leaving us more time to watch the Lions lose in their customary fashion and to enjoy being together before the retail crazy of the following days.

This was one of the best Thanksgivings in memory, trumped perhaps only by my childhood day in Florida at Cape Canaveral eating 7-11 hot dogs. The running strand though is time with my family, once a rare occurrence, now a blessed commodity. And 7-11.