Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. We all have fond memories, or not, of families gathering to feast themselves into a tryptophan induced coma only to awaken clamoring about whether or not they had slept through the turkey sandwich encore. This will not be one of those years.

I'm spending Thanksgiving alone this year. I don't particularly care really. I've done it many times before. I'll miss being with my wife, but for the last seven years, I haven't been with my son Cory anyway.

Cory has been attending the annual University of Florida-Florida State football game. Not that the game is played on Thanksgiving, it's not. It's played on the Saturday following. Cory made the five hour drive down one year, only to turn around and drive back the day after Thanksgiving; I don't blame him for not wanting to do that again. Not only does it take the fun out of the celebration, the drive sucks.

Before Cory went off to Gainesville, there were many years I spent most holidays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's; alone. Part of the agreement with the ex when I moved from New Jersey to Florida was Cory would spend all holiday vacations and summers with her. I got to pay the airfare for each of these excursions. Got to be a might pricey around November and December. Particularly if money was tight, which it always was for many years. This year money has nothing to do with me spending Thanksgiving alone.

This is a conscious choice I've made. As many of you who read this know, I've returned to college to get my PhD. My first semester in the doctoral program ends December tenth. My last class convenes on December second. Between now and then I have two presentations to complete, two papers due, one of them quite sizable with a shitload of research still to be done. I also have a series of article reviews to do as well. Please be advised, I'm not complaining. No guts, no glory. Keep your eye on the prize. Reach for the stars. Grab the brass ring. I have to excuse myself for a moment. That run of cliches just made me spit up in my mouth just a little bit.

Much better now thanks. I knew when I signed up for this thing that I'd have to make sacrifices. Spending this Thanksgiving working is just the first.

Less than one percent of adults who've obtained undergraduate degrees have gone on to get PhDs. I expect to make sacrifices for that kind of achievement. I just don't look at having turkey, stuffing, and pie as a sacrifice. My wife Helen is already planning to make those items for our Christmas dinner. So I got that covered.

Will I be lonely? I'm counting on being so busy that I won't have time to dwell on it. Before I got remarried I'd get downright morose when Cory went out of town. Various friends would invite me to spend the day with them until I got incredibly drunk, then for many years the list of friendly invites dwindled to one friend. It was about that time I chose to stay home...alone...drinking...wallowing in self-pity. No more.

Today I am comfortable in my own skin. I don't need people around to feel whole. I really need another leg to feel whole if the truth be told, but you've got my drift. Today I enjoy my own company. Today, after many yesterdays of wish I hads, I'm doing. I'm growing up. I'm maturing...well maybe not the last part. Oh, I know! I'm finally becoming the responsible person I was supposed to become several decades ago.

There will be other Thanksgivings. But there may be other commitments as well. Maybe what I do tomorrow and the rest of this coming weekend is the stepping stone to bigger things down the road. Maybe working this Thanksgiving will one day afford me the luxury of being able to gather all of my family wherever that may be, at the place where I have a commitment to fulfill one Thanksgiving in the future. And I'm just fine with that.