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Gratitude, Thanks, The season of Giving!

Once a year, every year, we gather round and give our thanks. Thanks for life, thanks for a good year, thanks for a bad year. Thanks for a family that comes together or thanks to a family that is far but near and dear in our hearts. Thanksgiving, the holiday of eating and merriment and connections.

Here in Moonshop, we want to say how grateful we are for all our players, through thick and thin, you guys have been amazing and wonderful. From now, until the end of the month, we are offering players a chance at a crown token by writing us a solo, from either your characters or your point of view as to what you are thankful for! If you do not have a character but do not want to write from your point of view you may write for a youma or unnamed disposable (just let us know!) Although, if you don't have a character you might want to head over here...

Your solo must be 500 words, and can only be claimed for one token! Thank you for a wonderful year, and to the next year to come! Please also remember to post in the Crown Token thread to claim!


Form:

Giving Thanks

Username: litian
Character: Liryn

I'm thankful for: It was just under a month until it was officially winter and the sharp bite to the air probably hinted towards the shifting of the seasons.

Liryn was just fine padding out and about on his rounds however, his fluffy coat helping to mitigate the nips from the chill November air.

And besides the town was so pretty at the moment as Destiny City geared up for the Thanksgiving weekend. Well okay so there were signs up and around about the Black Friday sales, but there were also pretty little displays intermixed in between the flyers about shop sales, since as the one in one of the bakeries that Athene seemed to like a lot when he was being Arian.

He paused to take in the little cluster of berries, intermixed between small glittery pumpkins with leaves in autumn shades of yellows, oranges and reds used as a finishing touch.

The leaves and berries were real - he just about smell them underneath the bakery scents of sugar and cake - and whilst the pumpkins were fakes, it didn't stop them from being a nice touch to the whole thing.

He looked across to another shop window that had set up a series of pumpkins on display. Fake silver intermixing with real green and orange in a colourful display.

He was about to turn away and pad on to the next display, but then a small sign in the window caught his eyes - well okay more like it was the words:

In all things give thanks...

Five words - five simple words - but as he turned away to pad slowly up the sidewalk, they kind of sparked things.

Because he had a lot of things to be thankful about when you thought about it.

He had gone from being a stray to having a steady home - first in the form of the one that Jae who was also Mizar had offered him and then in the one that Orah, Ida and Arian, Athene had given him.

And he had family...

Warm Ida who was the ranged part of their team and who had the biggest heart and was totally stronger than she gave herself credit for.
Quiet and kind Athene who was the steady support of their team and who was kind of like in Ida in that he was also a lot stronger than he gave himself credit for.
Brave and bold Tsui who was the close up for their team and who could be as fierce as the tiger from which she took her magic from... And who he missed like anything.
There was Chaonis who he didn't know quite as well as the other three as yet - but what he had seen he liked... And there was Navi who he knew even less well, but who was super important to Chaonis.

There was Jae who was also Mizar who was the first senshi he had ever awoken and a total sweetheart and Chariklo, Chari, who like Navi had taken the path to cross sides. There was also enthusiastic Subamara who he sort of remembered from the horrible future that was not now and who - as it turned out - was a friend that Athene had known since his High School days...

And there were the senshi twin sisters Eleonora and Alcor and the kind but powerful Royal Knight Camelot.

There was also his library-exploring friend Snowball and there was Ash who he didn't know that well, but who was a technology whizz and who had come up with the smart phones that he thought so neat.

And last (but certainly not least) there was also Lola, Ida's kitten, who was also sweet and always happy to play pounce and stuff.

And yes perhaps there were some that might say that they couldn't be family given that none of them were related to him by blood, but what would they know?

Because being a family wasn't just about blood - at least not for him.

It was about connections and friendships and enjoyment of company - things that he hadn't had in the days when he had just been Liryn the stray cat begging bits of food and the odd scritch here and there.

It was hard to believe that a couple of years had passed since that time, not a lot of time in the scheme of things and yet so much had happened and continued to happen.

And so yes he did have a lot to be thankful about.

He had a home and he had a family...

And whilst perhaps not conventional they were his family and his to help and protect with everything he had to give.

Giving Thanks

Username: Kolina
Character: Chailee

I'm thankful for: The sweet smell of pumpkin and turkey filled the air of her bedroom as Chailee finished primping over her outfit for the day. With the days growing colder she had opted for maroon leggings with an oversized light grey sweater that hung half-way down her thighs. It was cozy and comforting. With everything that had been going on in her life recently she had a stronger need to feel safe and comfy. Today would be a day that she’d let herself forget her troubles. In this she was determined.

A ring of the doorbell pulled her from her thoughts. “I’ll get it!” With one last cursery glance in the mirror she hurried downstairs to let their guests in. Cousins of hers from her dad’s side of the family. She lit up on seeing them and hugged each in turn as they all filed in to warm up and drop off whatever food they had brought with them. Another ring of the bell and Chailee greeted her grandparents from her mother’s side. The rained down kisses and hugs on her before also following the same path as her cousins and aunt and uncle had taken to the kitchen.

A glance out the window proved no one else was coming so Chay darted into the living room where people were people were sure to be gathering. Curling up on a chair she sat and listened to the chatter of people coming from the kitchen. A smile grew as she heard her uncle teasing her dad and her cousins, a bit younger than herself but still very much adored by her could be heard commenting on the desserts. Grandma and Grandpa were already bickering about something but Chay knew their bickering was out of love.

Closing her eyes she leaned her head back on the chair. This is what it’s all about. Having my family around.

Her thoughts then roamed to the friends she had made this year and her smile grew even wider. I hope everyone is having a fun safe Thanksgiving like me.

Chay was well aware that her life recently had been very caught up in senshi business. So much so that she couldn’t just take in and enjoy the friends and things around her. Being here, in her home, with her family around helped her refocus herself a bit onto what really mattered and what she was thankful to have in her life.

“Hey sleepy head! Don’t fall asleep yet, we haven’t even eaten yet!”

Chay’s eyes snapped open to find her youngest cousin, Gloria, standing in front of her hands on her hips. Chay laughed. “I am not sleeping. Just thinking.”

Gloria, a cute little 10 year old, gave Chay a look that said she thought otherwise.

“I swear! Besides, I couldn’t sleep with you and your brother being around. You’re both so noisy.” She stuck her tongue out and the little girl replied in kind.

The doorbell rang again. “Oh! More people! I wonder if it’s Nan and Pop.” She bounced up from her seat, her cousin just darting out of the way fast enough to avoid getting toppled as Chay ran to the door to greet more guests. All somberness was gone. At least for this day of thanks.

Giving Thanks 

Username:  dawns_aura
Character: Lianna Beauchamps

I'm thankful for:
The bluette sighed as she sank into the bubble-filled bathtub. It had been, not a hectic day or even a crazy one, but simply a day. With all the hassles and stresses that came from being an adult with a job and classes at college and running a family estate. With the turning of the weather, and approaching holidays that seemed to cause everyone to go a little insane, the bubble bath was simply a much needed, well-earned treat.

It was times like these she was grateful to be herself, the well-to-do granddaughter of a wealthy family. She had everything she could ask for – that money could buy, anyway. She had two homes that were extravagant in the extreme, food whenever she wanted it, the ability to travel anywhere and do practically anything, and yet.... There was that nagging little feeling that her life was meaningless. That there was something missing. A void she had no idea how to fill. Even her jaunts out to the clubs to dance or find a one-night stand weren't cutting it for her anymore.

And as the weather turned colder, and everywhere seemed to be gathering for the holidays, she started to feel – not depressed because she wasn't the type to get depressed, life is what it is after all, and she was more blessed than most– but melancholic. She wanted to have what everyone else seemed to. Families to love and come home to, people who cared that she was alive, because they actually liked her, not because they were paid to.

She remembered the glistening dresses and fancy parties she had attended as a child and young teen. She almost missed the hustle and bustle of setting up the food and decorations for the soirees. The music and sounds of whispers and laughter... It was a time when everything seemed so much simpler and easier. She had been happy then. Perhaps it might be time for her to try and restart the traditional holiday balls her family had been known for. Even if it meant returning to the manor and confronting the ghosts of her past she had tried to run away from for so much of her life...

Or not. Paris was always fun around the holidays or perhaps elsewhere in Europe, or better yet, taking off on another around the world excursion, at least until the holidays were over and done. She had little in the way of 'homework' that was due in any of her classes, and anything school-related could be done over email and Ims and such. As for her other duties... there wasn't anything she was involved in that required her presence constantly, and she did have alternate means of transportation if anything did pop up...

She shook her head to try and clear the thoughts from her mind. She was better than this. She was Lianna Beauchamps, daughter of a proud family. More than that she was also Empressite, loyal member of the Negaverse. A soldier. And while there were times she might wonder about what she was fighting for, and why, she couldn't be anything else, do anything else after what she had learned. She wasn't the type to run away without reason. So she would stay put, for now, and she would survive the holidays all on her own.

So while she might be lonely, and wish she had family to celebrate the holidays with, she was who she was. She was Lianna and Empressite, and she was grateful to be herself.

Giving Thanks

Username: _ p a o cx
Character: Clifford Barnes

I'm thankful for: "Family"

Thanksgiving wasn't exactly a family tradition, at least not in the "traditional" sense in the Barnes household, but Cliff knew that he certainly had a lot to be thankful for. His family for one, friends for another, and his newly acquired powers that allowed him to be helpful to a whole other side of the community that he didn't even know existed until just earlier this year. Oh, sure he had loads to be thankful for! He was scribbling it all down in a little essay that his English teacher had assigned them for the holiday break--not that it was much of a break since he did have homework, but at least there was no school.

It was the only sound that filled his room for the better part of an hours, the scritchy-scratchy sound of a pencil on paper, moving fast and never stopping to erase or correct any spelling or punctuation errors. He'd be typing it all anyway, but he enjoyed the actual act of writing on paper so his first draft was always on paper. A curious writer's process, his mother said; he just thought it was fun. When he finally dotted his last "I" and crossed his last "T" Clifford beamed brightly at the two and a half pages of college-ruled paper he filled up with a very specific list of all the things he was thankful for, organized by order of significance in his life. No sooner did he set his pencil down did his mother knock on his door.

"Young man, are you all washed up?" she asked. He ran to the door and opened it wide, his smile only getting bright at the sight of the bowl she was mixing. A batter bowl, and it looked like it would be for some cookie or another.

"For us?" he asked, knowing that his mother donated cookies to a local charity every Thanksgiving. She nodded, her own smile as bright as her son's.

"Only if you get cleaned up and help set the table downstairs."

"You got it!"

Cliff heard his mother laugh as he went and buried himself in the pile of clothes that was his closet (hidden in his closet, out of his mother's line of sight because it'd be another impediment to his cookies, of course), nabbing for himself a proper shirt, jeans, underwear and his towel before re-emerging from it with his clothes for the evening.

"These good enough?"

"Better than your pajamas, honey," his mother said before turning to descend the stairs. She was, of course, headed straight for the kitchen to hopefully pop those cookies in. Clifford zoomed out and to the bathroom, hurriedly getting himself ready for the evening.

Downstairs smelled heavenly, the mixed aromas of the various foods his mother had slaved yesterday and most of today away to prepare enough to make a hungry man cry. The young brunette wandered in to sneak a taste at whatever was closest at hand, only to be caught with a chuckle by his father.

"I taught you better, son," he chided, but with a sneaky grin he snuck a taste of his own.

"Good, huh?"

"I saw that, boys."

"Sorry, mom," they said in tandem.

"We'll work on the table then," his father said as he dragged him along. That was always his assignment every year, to help with the table, so he knew where everything already was. It wouldn't take too long.

"So," his father said, setting down the centerpiece. "What took you so long today?"

"Homework," he replied after setting down the place mats. Plates came next. "I was writing an essay of all the things I was thankful for this year. I got almost three pages, back to back."

The older man gave a laugh and clapped him on the shoulder. "That's my boy! So, what'd you write about?"

Cliff sighed, still smiling as he started to list thing off.

"Well, of course I started out with an introduction, then my first two paragraphs after that were about my friends at school and on the team and everything. I even thanked my teachers! And I also mentioned DJ, 'cause he's awesome," he said, glancing over at his dad who looked both concerned and curious.

"That took almost the whole first page, and it made me realize that if I had that much to write about for my friends at school then I'd have more to write about my family. The rest of it was really about you guys. You and mom and Nat," he said, pausing when her name finally left his lips. "It was hard, keeping it so short because I could have listed just about everything you guys have done for me. It actually still feels lacking, but I get the feeling Mr. Hardy wouldn't have time to read it all and read everyone else's essays, too."

Yes, he had loads to be thankful for. More than what nearly three pages could fit, even in his tiny scribble.

He didn't realize that his mother had walked in to call them back into the kitchen for a taste test, but when he glanced back again he saw his parents there, smiling at him with a glaze over their eyes. He assumed it was because he mentioned Natalie, his sister who'd been gone for some years now; they still set a place for her, because they were thankful for the years she'd spent with them. He always insisted, and his parents could never seem to bring themselves to say no.

He briefly went back to set his sister's plate. "It was just a big, long thank you letter, I guess. And since you guys aren't gonna read it, I'll just tell you how it goes." And then Cliff paused in his task for just a moment, and turned back to properly face them, returning their smiles with a beaming one of his own.

"It basically says, 'Thanks, mom and dad. I owe you guys everything, and I'm probably the luckiest kid in the world to have you guys as my parents.'"

Giving Thanks

Username: kuropeco
Character: All of mine (Fritz, Tolliver, Magiore, Auguste, Archer)
I'm thankful for:

He doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving, but he's learned to.

In the loft, Fritz sets out his dinner, one by one. A plate, made of the finest China, a gift from his grandmother on the day of his graduation from uni. A set of sterling silver forks, one next to other, tucked to the left of the plate: one for salads, one for the actual dinner. On the right side, dinner knife, teaspoon, and soup spoon, all neat and organized. The napkin goes beside the forks, teacup and saucer to the right, dessert spoon and dessert fork above his plate. Bread plate and butter knife to the left of the dessert silverware, and the water glass and wineglasses to the top right.

Everything in its proper place. Fritz has learned how to set tables because that is how gentlemen are, how he was raised. He knows how to make an appearance, and he knows how to present himself as though he is worth something (he isn't), as though he knows what he's doing (he doesn't). He has perfected the mask that he wears daily, all charming smiles and bright eyes, and this is the side that everyone sees. This is the side that everyone knows about, because no one is supposed to see the shame beneath, the self-loathing, the disgust, No one is supposed to know about all of the ugly emotions that twist him up inside. He puts on the facade, and he sits alone at his table, waiting for the phone call that he doesn't know will come, quietly spooning mashed potatoes onto his plate.

And Fritz is grateful that no one can see him. That no one will have to watch as he washes his hands later that night, scrubbing until the skin is red and raw, until there's nothing left but numbness.

----------------------------

Tolliver has never really celebrated Thanksgiving before. He's not from the States, so he doesn't really know the concept of it all until Hitch explains it to him, and then he finds it rather a nice thing. A day to be thankful, a day to be reminded of all the things that one should be happy about - and really, there are so many things that Tolliver St. James is happy about.

The most obvious - and the sappiest - of these is right in front of him. Tolliver is happy for Logan Hitchcock, for the man that will eventually become his husband, for the man that he stepped in front of in that stupid store, for the man that brought him out of who he was and made him feel worthwhile. There are no real words for what Tolliver feels for Logan, no real way of explaining the depth of his feeling, because how can he ever start to thank someone who has taken him from the lowest depths to the highest mountains? It sounds cheesy to everyone else, maybe, but Tolliver doesn't care.

He will never stop being thankful for Logan Hitchcock, but most of all, he is thankful, for the first time in his entire life, that he is alive.

Tolliver has never once been happy that he is alive. He has never once felt as though his existence is meaningful, that he is even meant to be where he is for a reason, and yet, now, with Logan, and with Fritz, and with the possibility of becoming stronger so that he can protect them both, Tolliver feels, incredulously, amazingly, glad that he is alive.

He is glad that he is breathing, and maybe things are not perfect, and maybe he still wakes up with nightmares clogging his throats, maybe he still suffers from an anxiety so bad that he has difficulty even getting up in the mornings. But for the first time, he feels that maybe, just maybe, he can get through it.

Maybe, just maybe, he doesn't just have to survive, but live.

Tolliver makes Logan dinner that evening, and only burns the rolls a little bit.

----------------------------

The last time that Magiore Carpenter celebrated Thanksgiving, he was a young child.

He vaguely remembers it. He thinks he might have been around eleven or twelve, which really wasn't that long ago - ten years or so, but still. His memories of his childhood are relatively hazy, save for the times he spent with Kodi all growing up. His family is rather close-knit, but holidays have never really been a priority, and more often than not, he remembers his parents watching the game with his grandparents while he and his cousins ran around outside playing teeball.

It was never bad. In fact, Magiore has very fond feelings about these times. He doesn't regret how he's turned out, doesn't feel as though he has anything to be ashamed of. He's done well with what he's been given, hasn't he? He's found the Negaverse and everything that comes with it, he's been promoted to General after four years, and he's found Durumi.

Sweet, wonderful, beautiful, adoring Durumi, whom he can't imagine his life without, who never gave up on him even when he refused to accept his own feelings, even when he'd thought he was not worth it all, she had never once let him go. He owes her, and he knows he can never repay it.

But it's okay. They have each other, they have their house. Durumi has the Dark Mirrors, and he has the Negaverse. And Magiore feels extremely...content. He wants for nothing, not really, except Durumi's heart to always be his, and for his to always be hers, and for how life is to keep going, to keep moving forward.

Magiore is grateful for many things, but he is mostly grateful for the fact that he can appreciate the life he has.

----------------------------

When he wakes up on Thursday, Auguste remembers, belatedly, about Thanksgiving.

It's a holiday he's not familiar with. He vaguely remembers American relatives speaking of it once or twice while growing up, and he remembers, he thinks, being told it's a day to be grateful, a day to be thankful for all that he has, and Auguste remembers being confused about it.

"Shouldn't we be thankful every day?"

Auguste is very grateful, every day, for what he has. He has never been happier in his entire life, even though it's not that easy sometimes. Even though he's still recovering from his incident with the general who ripped his starseed out, even though he's always, always worried about Colin and Nadia and Lorne and Isaiah and Rhea and Aleksy. Even though he's not as close to the last two, Auguste is still worried about them constantly, hoping that they are safe, hoping that they are taken care of.

But Auguste is so very, very thankful for them. He has grown up for so long thinking that family meant being blood related; that "family" was a word for distant parents who were kind, but not caring, for two people who loved, but were not loving. He has never before understood what it meant to be a part of something more, has never quite known why his life has always felt as though it were missing something somehow.

He knows now. He knows now, what family is, because these people, these wonderful, beautiful, incredible people that Auguste loves more than he ever thought he was capable of loving, are his family now. They are a part of him, and he hopes beyond hope that he is a part of them as well; that they will continue to be his safety, his warmth, his security.

Auguste is always grateful, every day, for this family that he has found.

----------------------------

He's always thought Thanksgiving was a stupid holiday.

"What's the point?" Archer asked his father once, when he was about fourteen. "I don't understand why we have to be thankful for anything at all, it is what it is. We have stuff, or we don't have stuff, and there's no point in making a huge deal out of it."

He remembers his father grunting, remembers the way he turned away, beer in hand, with a shrug of his massive shoulders. Archer's father was never one for many words, and he was hardly about to start now, instead returning his attention to the television and reminding his son that there's some burgers and fries on the table in lieu of a turkey and mashed potatoes, and could he please bring him some?

It's been a long time since then, and Archer still thinks it's a worthless holiday. There are things that he appreciates in his life, and there are things that he doesn't appreciate. He is not an emotional sap who feels the need to blather on and on again about crap that he already knows, or crap that other people will see as "sentimental." Archer could care less about other people's opinions anyway, and he fails to see the point in participating in a holiday that's nothing more than pathetic, self-satisfying drivel.

Archer may not be grateful or thankful, but he does appreciate that he has the intelligence to know how to get what he wants - and how to get rid of whatever he doesn't.

Giving Thanks

Username: Kapoodles
Character: Benji Rhodes

I'm thankful for: "Silence"

Months and months had passed by since the damage done to him during an incident underground. It was really ******** hard to pinpoint the last day he was feeling normal. Every night was busy and there was always some sort of crazy s**t going down in the city that he grew up in. Hell, he couldn’t even remember what it was like to be genuinely at peace anymore. There was no such thing as a ‘normal’ day for Benji anymore, not within that city.

He had the s**t beat out of him, had been sent to the hospital and got his eye wrecked in that goddamn city. He had been tormented by arrogant ******** who thought they were the best thing in the world since indoor plumbing. He had gone from just being annoyed by his parents, to being completely coddled like he was some sort of child. Hell, he couldn’t even take the bus around the city like he used to anymore. The city was dangerous and far more threatening than when he originally thought it was when he became a senshi..

But that’s not where he was today. As much as he fussed and cussed about it, once his family reached that cabin in the woods that they went to every year for Thanksgiving even he shut up and just breathed deep. There was no constant wailing of sirens here; no creepy feeling of being watched from the shadows, no fear being outside and alone at night.

No no no, not at all. Out here was just him as he sat on the rooftop at 2 in the morning. Even better, there were no streetlights out to blind the hell out of the city. Far above him he could see stars of all shapes and sizes glittering in their night time serenade of color. This was some majestic s**t for sure, he thought to himself.

The thought of his own planet came across his mind, though he still did not have an urge to go see it. He could see it from here with the little telescope he held in his hand. Well, not the planet, but the star it was around. Just for this special occasion of being so secluded in the woods he purchased a start map and took a great deal of time to locate the little blip in the sky.

That was it. And for a good few hours, he simply sat on the ceiling of the cabin, enjoying the silence and watching the stars and scattered clouds drift before his eyes. As ******** up as that city was, he still felt the need to protect it. It wasn’t just buildings and streets, there were the people there that needed to be saved. Benji, though ill tempered and quick to fight, still wanted to protect even the weakest of people there. Hell, he was weak too, but he was training with Van and her dumbass brother now. He WOULD get stronger so that no other little kid would be forced to join any sort of ‘war effort’ for something they probably didn’t even understand.

Benji didn’t want to think about such a thing anymore. Instead, he leaned back and closed his eyes, just listening to the nature around him. Not even a bird or a coyote made a sound this evening.

Who knew there was still some sort of peace in this goddamn world..

Thank the Maker for silence..

Giving Thanks

Username: Felyn
Character: Zoe Katsaros (aka Sailor Midas)

I'm thankful for:

“I’ll tell him when he gets home,” Zoe’s voice chimed where she sat in the family tea room, an iPad balanced upright in front of her. There was a genuine, pleased smile on her face as she stared down at another set of eyes that matched her own.

“I miss you too, Cassy.”

The screen went dark and the eldest Katsaros daughter reclined back into the cushions of her chair, staring into the dim archway that lead back into the main house. She could just barely smell the hint of her mother’s cooking - Thanksgiving was one of the only times in the year that Demetria insisted on cooking something herself instead of letting it be handled by whatever hired help they had employed for the occasion. It was peculiar, in some ways, since it was not a holiday native to her parents but she knew that Demi had adopted it for other reasons.

Thanksgiving was the mark of her father’s vacation every year. Not that he stopped working, because Theodore Katsaros never stopped working a moment in his life, but he didn’t travel from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. He strictly worked locally, so he could spend that little window of time with his family as much as possible. She remembered the exact smell wafting through from the kitchen every year growing up while she sat with Cassia, playing quietly with their toys. It was always just a way to distract themselves and waste time, because the moment the front door opened both girls would barrel for the pale-haired man in a flurry of laughter and kisses.

Her bright eyes looked at the empty seat next to her, then down at the iPad with a solemn smile. It had been a long time since she had seen her sister, her partner in crime, the other half of her heart that had been born two years later. Every day she felt her absence as she traversed the intricacies of their dog-eat-dog society alone - both as Zoe, and as Midas. Part of her was glad that Cassia had been able to escape it to Europe, but there was always that part of her that would be happier when, and if, Pythia rejoined the cause they had involuntarily been drafted into.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the sound of the front door opening reached her ears. There was a very faint click, followed by the dull thud of shoes on the entry hall floor.

Gone were the years when Zoe was allowed to run through the house like a maniac, but it didn’t stop her from pushing her chair back so abruptly that it nearly tipped over. She only spared a moment to adjust the sweater dress she had chosen for the family meal, then hurried through the halls and winding corridor until her eyes landed on the tall man she had been waiting for. He was busy hanging up his travelling coat in the closet, but when he turned to see her finally, there was a pleased smile on his face.

“Hey Zo,” his voice was as warm as she remembered it and she walked into his open arms without a word, burying her face into the dress shirt that always smelled like a mix of cologne and cigars. Her father’s arms wrapped around her tightly and he pressed a gentle kiss against the top of her head.

Some traditions were simple and perfect.

“Happy Thanksgiving.”