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Thanksgiving in the OC by Sean Vidal Flying back to East Lansing usually occurs
at some ridiculous hour like 6:45 in the morning where sleeplessness
is accompanied by a headache, alcohol-smelling breath and an
uncomfortable position where I’m trying not to touch elbows with the person next
to me. I always think about how I should be doing some kind
of work and not watching the movie that I wouldn’t even pay
$2.95 rent from Blockbuster, which is why it’s on a plane
in the first place. But this flight is different. My mother decided not to
torture me with a 4 a.m. wake-up call and booked my flight at 3
in the afternoon--thank the lord. And although I do want to be
back in East Lansing where I have many freedoms--I don’t
have to worry about who’s going to drive my drunk ass home
and I have a reason to get out of bed before twelve everyday--I’m
feeling melancholy about leaving my home, Orange County. Coming home to California brings relief
from harsh Michigan weather and relaxing times with old friends,
but it also brings old emotions. It started on the flight home. Earlier
in the week, I learned my ex-girlfriend, Elizabeth, and some
of her college friends were going to be on the same flight as
I was. Having made a pact that we were going to stop talking
regularly for a while, I knew seeing her was going to be interesting.
But traffic and the unreliability of MapQuest directions put
her at the airport horribly late, so I only saw her for a second
before boarding the plane. On planes, I always wonder whom my five-second
conversation is going to be with. When you’re on an airplane it’s hard
to really care about the stranger next to you. It consists of a
greeting, maybe a “How are you?” or “Are you
traveling for business or pleasure?” The friendship lasts
the duration of an in-flight movie, and then you part ways, knowing
you’ll never see them again. My airplane partner came, and I never
got his name, but he was not a member of the 5-second conversation
club like most people I meet on these flights. He was a proud Michigan State University
alumni from the class of 1997. He brought with him a briefcase, a copy
of a two-month-old “GQ” magazine
and Coke cup filled with beer. I could smell the time he
spent at the airport bar on his breath as we started to chat about
MSU. Later Elizabeth’s friend offered to switch seats with me.
I immediately jumped at the opportunity and her friend took my
seat at the front of the plane. While I got into conversation with Elizabeth,
her friend spent the remainder of the flight getting inebriated
with my alcoholic MSU alumni friend and creeped out by the sexual
side notes he slur into her ears--while wearing his wedding ring,
natch. Way
to breed gentlemen, MSU! I became immediately comfortable talking
to my ex-girlfriend. She,
however, felt slightly awkward after not seeing me in three months
time. We got through the small first and then more into our
personal lives. Elizabeth is somehow always tired around
me and decided it was OK to lay her head on my shoulder. I wasn't
even tired, I was just faking going to sleep to see if maybe
she faked being tired to get closer to me. It became more awkward
when she brought up the fact we hadn't made out yet. This prompted
me to play a fourth grade game of whether I should hold her hand.
I didn’t. My parents, Elizabeth’s family and Josh, one of my best
friends from high school, were all there to greet me. Josh
was determined to start my weekend off right by surprising me with
a Coors Light in his jacket pocket. He didn’t have
to convince me--I shotgunned it in the bathroom while my parents
were looking for my huge duffel bag full of too many clothes for
a weekend trip. I’m such a great son, don’t you
think? After we found the bag, I stepped outside
into 70 degree weather, declared it was way too hot outside and
then went home and slept for what seemed like days. I woke up the next afternoon remembering
it was not only the day before my birthday but also my favorite
holiday: Thanksgiving. As I walked into the family friend’s house where we were
eating, I could smell Thanksgiving everywhere. I hadn’t eaten
anything that day, in preparation, and starvation quickly took
control of me and nothing else was on my mind. I got my fill of
my favorite meal of the year while watching professional football
and taking a nap after I was done consuming as much food as possible.
Then it was off to awkward town. It just seems normal for me to see my
ex-girlfriend’s parents
on any type of holiday, especially Thanksgiving. Now that
all their daughters have grown up, her parents have taken a liking
to beer pong tournaments at family gatherings. Elizabeth was apprehensive
of me coming up to play and I got the awkward feeling that I was
just inviting myself along, but decided to go anyway, see her parents
and say hi to her family. I was going past her house on my way
to a keg of Bass Ale and a pre-birthday midnight celebration anyway
so I thought it was going to be OK. Showing up at her house made it seem like
we were dating again. The
entire extended family welcomed me with open arms. Her father gave
me a firm handshake and her mother offered me food, as always. As welcoming as they were, I felt uncomfortable
being back in her house with her family and I said my good-byes
after being there for 15 minutes. When saying goodbye to her
family they all gave me strange looks and asked why I was leaving. I didn’t
think saying, “Well your daughter doesn’t want me to
be here,” was appropriate, so I was polite, told a half-truth
and was off to a glorious, full keg of Bass Ale. At midnight my buddy Josh brought out
bottles of champagne after and, as I was told the next morning,
I decided the couch was looking too comfortable to stay awake
and keep drinking. I crashed on a pillow with my sandals still
on. I awoke the next morning in Josh’s
apartment looking with “Happy B-day” written down the
side of my face. It was my birthday and in that moment,
I realized how much of a letdown being 20 really is. It’s
just another reminder that I am still underage and have to wait
a full 365 days until my highly-anticipated day at the bar. After a birthday lunch with my friend
David at California Pizza Kitchen with a genuine California ocean
view, I got a call from Elizabeth saying she and her friends
were in Laguna Beach and I needed to show them around my “home town.” To
be clear: although I do know my way around Laguna Beach, I do not
live there. I would like to, but I don’t. During the tour, I got some alone time
with Elizabeth. It was the first time I didn’t feel like
I needed to be defensive when talking to her. It was a really
warm, friendly conversation, like none of our drama ever happened
and we were back in a time when we really cared about each other.
But as great as it was, it was short-lived because David and
I needed to get to my special birthday dinner with my mother
and father. It is a Vidal family tradition to take
the birthday member out to whatever dinner they want, no matter
the cost. So I asked
my parents to get me reservations at our family’s favorite
restaurant that just so happened to be the place I would always
take Beth on dates. Ti Amo. “I love you,” and
the name of the restaurant. It has an ocean view and is a comfortable
and intimate dinner experience. The family dinner was nice but
I was still caught up on her. I had been to the restaurant
plenty of times, mainly with my family, but Elizabeth was the
only person on my mind. After dinner, it was time for the real
party to start. The keg of Bass Ale was still at Josh’s apartment, waiting for me
to tap it. The night went well; people came and people left. I
hung out with old friends and stayed up as long as I could. Waking up the next day took some effort.
It’s tradition
for Josh to take me out the night before I fly back to school. The
goal of the night is to get me to such an inebriated state that
I will still be in it the next morning for the plane ride home.
But this time Josh needed help moving out of his apartment because
the rich friend who’s letting him use it is coming home from
Denver University. My night ended watching “The Fifth
Element” and me driving home because I needed to actually
be alive for lunch with my horribly sad mother the next day. Now I am in the present, listening to
the kind of music that makes people miss someone. On the plane
home I could only contemplate how fast the weekend went and how
much I wanted to be back in the OC as soon as possible. All I
need to do is get through finals and Christmas parties, a family
gathering in Grand Rapids and another flight home, which will
surely be eventful, though without the antics of the drunken
MSU grad. The holiday weekend made me realize love is just not enough sometimes. Holidays make me think about people I care about and that means I was constantly thinking about her. I don’t really know what is going to happen over Christmas break, but I know it’s going to be interesting. Regardless, I can’t wait to be back in the warm weather again, feeling the sand beneath my toes, smelling the Pacific Ocean while driving down the coast, saying goodbye to a crying mother, once again, and partying with my best friends in the OC. |
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