Day 858: A Hungry-Man Thanksgiving

Well folks, I’m still not 100% sure how I’m going to spend my Thanksgiving Holiday today.  On Halloween I felt a slight twinge of loneliness… after all it was Gilliam’s first Halloween.  So now, here we are.  Thanksgiving… and I’m feeling a little more melancholy.  Today is a day that I can feel every painful minute of the last four (plus) months I’ve been away.

Prior to today, I have spent one Thanksgiving away from family… but that was back in college.  I was in rehearsals for a show and didn’t have the time to drive home so my roommates and I hosted an ‘orphans’ thanksgiving for a bunch of our friends and professors.  But college is a different animal.  College is a time when you’re trying to claim your own independence and the definition of ‘family’ blurs.  I may have been away from my actual family, but I was dining with my theatre family.

Now, I have a family of my own… and the definition is no longer blurred.

Sure, in the last four month I’ve fostered some very close friendships.  Friendships that will undoubtedly last for quite some time… as I’ve said in the past, a friendship is defined by a shared experience… and serving in Pakistan is certainly that.  However, friendship is no longer a replacement for family.

So, yes, the American Club is cooking a delicious feast for all of us lonely souls today… and all my new friends are hosting countless ‘orphan’ Thanksgivings around town… but… you know what I really want to do? 

All I want to do is stay home, heat up my Tyson’s Hungry-Man Turkey Dinner, turn on Skype, and share a meal with my family… I’m a man of simple tastes.

But don’t you worry about me… as the song says, ‘I’ll be home for Christmas’.  ;)

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers!  And whether you are American or not… today would be a good day to give your family a hug.