It was only a matter of time before I grew up.
It wasn't until earlier this week while talking with a high school friend (Hi, Kate!) that it hit me that I'm an adult...correction: we're adults. I'm 32 and, although I've put it off as long as I could, it's here...adulthood.
With Thanksgiving just one sleep away, this new truth is a reality. A welcomed reality.
Worldwide, Thanksgiving is known for celebrating family, friends, employment, good health, turkey, gravy, stuffing, yadda yadda yadda...but my Thanksgivings have always embodied so much more.
For the past eight years, I have rushed out of work in Providence on Wednesday afternoon to sit in Mass Pike traffic from Worcester to Springfield, adding at least 45 extra minutes onto my already-annoying commute to Mom's house in Western Mass. Once there, I typically inhaled dinner (and shrimp cocktail if I was lucky) and threw a load of laundry in...because there are no laundry facilities in the Ocean State. That's the excuse I'm going to go with.
I would hit the town with the high school friends that I have had the good fortune of remaining close with all of these years. We, inevitably, would run into people we knew in past lives and hold those awkward conversations that go a little something like, "So...what have you been doing since 1998?" or "Remember Mrs. (fill in the blank with a high school teacher or coach)?"
Although our rowdy behavior has subsided quite a bit in recent years, Thanksgiving has always been a good time to celebrate. Hell, in high school I'd force my immediate family out of our holiday dinner plans so I could go to an unchaperoned formal at a local Polynesian restaurant. We'd get all dolled up, put on our wrist corsages, take ridiculous amounts of pictures and then hop into a limo. Off to debauchery we go!
More recently, my Thanksgiving Day would start with a hearty breakfast of banana bread and Haviland's Chocolate Covered Thin Mints. I'd peruse the massive pile of Black Friday sale flyers in the newspaper - a newspaper which is typically less than half of the size of the Thanksgiving issue - while watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade on television. I'd laugh about the horrible lip synching of the performers and smile at the sight of Snoopy or Kermit flying high above New York City.
Occasionally, I'd head out to cheer on the Panthers on the gridiron while sipping a hot chocolate and yelling out the "Keystone" cheer in unison with the student body. (Do they still do this cheer?)
Most high school reunions seem to take place on this holiday weekend because, well, everybody's "home". Well, this year I will not be dancing at the Hu Ke Lau. I will not be throwing back drinks and living it up at Coconuts. I will not trash talk the Westfield Bombers while cheering on the good guys of Cat High.
I've made the choice to stay local and share my Thanksgiving with someone very special to me and his amazing family. They have very graciously opened their home and their hearts to me and I am very grateful to be welcomed with open arms...as long as I bring the green bean casserole.
Regardless of your Thanksgiving Day plans, I hope you are surrounded by people you care about and flooded with those "Happy Turkey Day" texts...and, if that's not an option, I hope you have plenty of pumpkin pie. Gobble gobble!
