John Morrow came home for Thanksgiving this year. He was not sure he should come home as he had been gone for a long time and had not left home under the best of circumstances. You see John had been the black sheep in the family and had never been able to do anything right as far as his parents were concerned so he joined the service and went off to fight in a war far away.

Once in awhile he would write home but he never got any letters in return, and after he got out of the service he decided he would just keep on wandering. Oh, every now and them he would send a letter home to let his parents know he was alive, if they cared. But he never put a return address on the letters and besides, he was never in one place long enough to get any mail, anyway.

One cold November day he looked up from the bed in the rented room and thought it was time to go home. If he was not welcome then he could just leave again.

It took John about a week to work his way home by one means or another and he got his last ride just a ways from where his parents lived. As he stood on the road in front of the place he had once called home he remembered the years and wondered how things had changed. Oh he knew they had changed all right, as he had changed.

The young man that had joined the service was now old and weathered but not beaten by any means. John walked up on the front porch and paused before he rang the bell. He felt funny ringing the doorbell at his own home but he was not sure if he should just walk in or not; after all, there were the years between.

The door was answered by a young man John didn't know, and John was asked who he wanted to see and who he was. John had not gotten the first word asking if his parents still lived in the home when a voice came from inside asking if it was John.

Yes, John replied as his mother, now old and gray, came into view. His mother took John in her arms and told him how nice it was to see him after all the years and led him into the house where the rest of the family was gathered for dinner.

John looked around and didn't see his father so he asked about him and was told he had died a year or so ago. He was told they had tried to find him but none of the letters he wrote had a return address and besides, they wondered if he would really care leaving the way he did and all.

It was not until dinner was over with and all of the new members of the family had been introduced to John and had gone to their homes that John got a chance to sit down with his mother and talk. "Where have you been all these years?" she wanted to know. “How come you never gave us an address to write to you or let us know where you were?"

John wanted to tell his mother that he didn't figure it would make a difference to anyone so he just had not bothered but instead he looked at his mother all gray and worn and replied, "I was busy mom and I just never got a chance to let you know where I was. I know I should have done better but you know how I am."

"Yes I do," his mother replied. "You never could think of anyone but your self. Didn't you think we would worry about you? Wonder if you were alive or had perhaps died someplace and we had never known it. Now you come home on Thanksgiving and walk right in as though noting had ever happened. Just like you had walked out this morning and came home for dinner. I wish I knew what you were thinking. You’re not like the rest of the kids: so considerate, always here when I need them. So how long are you going to stay?"

"I have to leave in a littler while. I just wanted to come by and say hello. I was in the area and...."

"In the area huh? Well I guess that means something to you but after all of the heartache you have given us I don't see how you had the gall to show up and ruin our Thanksgiving dinner."

"I'm sorry mom, I'll be on my way now."

John picked up his bag and walked out the door wondering why he had even bothered. But he knew why it was Thanksgiving and he wanted a taste of home that he had missed for so many years even though in his heart he knew it would never be there.

After he left home he stopped by to see an old friend and they talked for a while and John left to leave town. On the way out of town he stopped at the Gas and Gulp to get a cup of coffee and hopefully a ride to wherever he could. There he met a waitress by the Name of Karen who took him home and fed him a real thanksgiving dinner and whom along with her family helped him to feel as though he was a part of a real family. John is on the road again but every now and then he drops in to Calhoun County to get a home cooked meal and see Karen so he can be part of a real family.

PS

Every now and them Karen asks John if he is ready to settle down and have a home life. She's willing to wait and John is having a hard time saying no as time goes by. Especially when he sits down at the Thanksgiving table and thinks of all the things he has to be thankful for now - most of all being Karen