Guess Who’s Coming to Thanksgiving Dinner…
Reuniting with your parents during college can be tough, but coming home for Thanksgiving with your first boyfriend presents a host of other challenges. That’s what I had found myself preparing for on the drive to my grandma’s boyfriend’s condo as my significant other of four months nervously flicked a lighter in passenger seat. He had spent all last night cooking with my parents so the hardest part was already over.
Of course, I had been excited to introduce James, whom they’d all heard so much about lately, yet I could not have helped but feel overwhelmed. Thanks to COVID, Thanksgiving was much smaller this year- the stakes were not as high. Still, I had intended on making a good impression. I had thrown him a few practice questions in the car but I still worried a relative would try and throw a curve ball. I had maintained that as long as James was sure not to mention his/our smoking habit or my new tattoo, all would well.
We had sneakily smoked a marlboro behind Grandma’s garage- a bad habit, I know- and surreptitiously sprayed ourselves down with lavendar-scented perfume I had stashed in my bag. I had given him a stealthy kiss on the cheek in preparation to have spent the next five hours at a modest distance. At least, I had been hopeful that this meant I would free from the ever-present “Do you have a boyfriend, yet?” question this time around.
