“You doing anything special for Thanksgiving?” If one more person asked me that, I was going to lose it. I just wanted the whole thing to be over with. Like most years.

Thanksgiving had never been the happiest holiday for me. When I was little, it was fun seeing my cousins, aunts and uncles. Then my father left. Thanksgiving dinner became subdued, less a celebration and more a reminder of how my family was splitting apart, not coming together.

Now I was divorced. The past year had been such a downer for me. I’d had to move to a smaller, cheaper apartment. Then my hours had been cut back at my bookstore job. I didn’t feel like being around a lot of people, let alone pretending to be thankful for something. Not this year especially. I just wanted to stay home with my two cats and sleep in...read more