Thankful...Even at Work!

My pal Lenslinger is Thankful he's not working this Thankgiving and day after, but due to my untimely regard for proper vacation paperwork, I'm working both Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, giving up my Thanksgiving dinner with my wife, her parents and my sister and brother and law.



But still, I'm thankful. Thankful to be working in a great job. Thankful to have an understanding wife and wonderful kids. Thankful that I get to do stories on Thanksgiving like the one I did today.



My story was about these two cuties' father. He's a soldier in the Army at Fort Bragg and this is the first year in 4 that he's been home for Thanksgiving. Last year he was away at Officer Training School. In 2003 he was in Iraq. In 2002 he was in Afghanistan. So this year is certainly special for his wife and children and the rest of the family.



The only monkey wrench in the whole Thanksgiving Day plan was his unit's Mission status restricting him to within 50 miles of Ft. Bragg, so coming to Greensboro for dinner at his wife's Mom and Dad's was out of the questions.



So Mom and Dad made the 90 minute trip, and so did intrepid reporter Caron Myers and myself. The hook for the story wasn't just that he was home for the Holiday or that he couldn't leave town, but that he invited his whole squad of soldiers to come to his house for Thanksgiving dinner. The soldiers are his extended family and they also couldn't leave town.



A 21 pound turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, ham, pickles, deviled eggs, homeade bread, multiple desserts and 60 minutes of XDCam footage later, Caron and I found our way back to the live truck and began the journey back to High Point with Caron firmly planted in the back seat listening to our interviews and reviewing our footage.



By the time we arrived in High Point at 4:15 we had a 2 minute masterpiece ready to edit and at 6pm my Brother-in-Law, Sister-in-Law, 2 year old niece, 6 week old nephew, Father-in-Law, Mother-in-Law, Wife and 6 other soldiers made their appearance in a great little story we're calling 'A Soldier's Thanksgiving'.

I certainly am Thankful that I was able to spend Thanksgiving Dinner with my Family, even if I did have to eat(while shooting video mind you) and run.

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Black Friday, which I plan to be shopping at bright and early before work!!!