What can I say about this Thanksgiving? It certainly wasn't what I would have wanted or planned. Yet, I am thankful for it....
Without going into all the other options that didn't pan out, there was one option that opened up to me too late for me to say "yes". But I'd have rather this option had not opened up. My friend, TCL, had invited one of her friends over to have a Thanksgiving meal with her at a local restaurant. This gentleman is a little bit of a flake at times, but TCL made sure that I understood that her friend had a very good reason to skip the meal - he had to be admitted into the local hospital. Although I can't go into any more details, TCL was able to show me that his situation was serious, and that he needed immediate treatment and care. I wish I could have then said yes to TCL, but I already had plans with FH and didn't want to break them.
Many people might not have known that Boston Market was open (in a limited way) for Thanksgiving. People had a very limited choice of meals, as the stores were doing Thanksgiving Feasts to go. Lines stretched out the doors, and out to the back of the stores. Yet, they moved quickly, as evidenced by the one I was on. After picking up 3 meals (1 each for FH, her daughter, and me), I was off to Forest Hills for dinner.
Once I reached Queens, I decided to look for plastic utensils, so that we didn't need to clean up anything. I ended up driving through Flushing, and the area is even more built up and more like a part of Asia than I remember it being. (The heart of Flushing is one of New York's newer Chinatowns, and I wanted to see what has changed since I was there last.) Eventually, I made it to FH's place, and I was extremely lucky to find a place in front of her door. Even more so, I was lucky that the door was open to her building, since both the doorman was on duty AND that the temperature was in the 60s when I arrived.
Even though I bought 3 meals, the only thing FH's daughter wanted to eat was the Mac & Cheese bowl I picked up. The girl (she's 21) is a very picky person, and didn't even want to eat anything else on the table. Once dinner was complete, FH and I went to her cousin's house for an outdoors holiday chat, and I eventually dropped her off at her place a little before 9 pm.
Would I have chosen this day, knowing how things would be? Probably not. But I am grateful that FH is comfortable introducing me to her cousin and his daughter. And I am grateful that I had this place to be on Thanksgiving, a holiday I could have easily spent alone and depressed.
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