Thanks for reading this year's Thanksgiving Marathon!

A New Perspective (1/1)

"I just wanna make sure I know exactly what I'm going to say in my presentation," DJ explained to Steve as he double checked the poster board covered with pictures he had taken on Thanksgiving which he and Catherine had carefully attached the night before. It was propped up on the easel which had been temporarily relocated from the playroom to the kitchen. He shuffled several papers back and forth in his hands and tugged at the hem of his shorts.

"I think that's an excellent idea." Steve knelt beside his son. "Mommy, Angie, and I can't wait to hear it. And when we told Grandma and Grandpa and Grandma Ang what you were going to do, they asked if they could come over because they're really excited to see it too. Same with Uncle Danny, and Gabby, and Grace, and Nonna."

The young boy's eyes darted towards the door to the deck. "That's a lot of people."

Steve smiled softly and squeezed his son's arm. "It's less people than are in your class," he pointed out.

DJ nodded but still looked unsure. "I guess."

"Everyone out there loves you very much and they're very excited to hear your presentation," Steve said. "There's nothing to be nervous about. But if you decide you don't want to do it, that's ok."

"No, I want to," DJ replied determinedly.

"I think that's a good idea." Steve nodded. "It's always good to get some practice before you make a big presentation."

DJ giggled. "That's the same thing Mommy said."

"That settles it then." Steve stood and prepared to carry the easel to the deck. "We both know how smart Mommy is and if she said it too it must be right."

Suddenly the door to the deck slid open and Angie poked her head inside. "We're very very ready to listen!"

As Steve and DJ made their way outside with the easel in tow everyone was getting settled on the deck. Grace helped Elizabeth pass out hot chocolate, tea and coffee. "I know it's hot out but we're going to set the holiday mood with beverages as part of the theme," she said with a smile.

"Best party planner in the world." Danny lifted his cup.

"Ohh it used to be in Honolulu, I've graduated to the world?" Grace chuckled as she sat beside her father and gave him a hug.

"It was Honolulu on day one. You're getting better by the minute." He winked at Nonna who nodded. "And now that we're all feeling Thanksgiving-y I can't wait to hear your presentation, DJ."

Steve placed the easel in front of all their assembled guests and then with one last supportive smile to DJ took his seat beside Catherine. Angie crawled immediately into his lap.

DJ cleared his throat and looked down at his notes. A thousand thoughts were running through his mind at the same time. He flashed on a memory of walking into the dining room of his grandmother's apartment not long after he had been placed with her to ask for a glass of water. There were two card tables filled with women talking and laughing. When he approached and asked for a drink his grandmother yelled at him for interrupting and when he began to cry the other women laughed at him.

His mind then moved on to a memory of all the scary people who used to visit his aunt and uncle's house. Most of them carried guns and they would snarl at him if he dared come out of his room. He would sit with his back pressed against the door hoping he could stop anyone who tried to come into his room.

He bit his lip hard and looked at the people sitting in front of him.

Suddenly a flood of new memories filled his mind. That first night, camping out in the living room with Steve, Catherine, and Angie. These smiling faces, now so familiar to him, celebrating on his Official Day. All the happiness and laughter around the table at holidays and barbecues. Grandma tutoring him so he'd be ready to go back to school. Grandma Ang cheering in the stands at his baseball games. Nonna holding him in her lap and explaining where true love came from before taking him to the mall to buy engraved ornaments. Grandpa always willing to listen and eager to answer questions. Grace really listening to his ideas and throwing the best birthday party ever for him and all his classmates. His appetizer only dinners with Uncle Danny and Gabby taking him to work with her one day and patiently explaining all the exhibits. All the breakfasts and fun times and bedtime stories he shared with his parents and his little sister.

Suddenly a thought took root deep in his mind, even if he wouldn't have necessarily been able to put words to it.

Since the moment he met Steve at his aunt and uncle's house, and then later that day met Catherine, Angie, Grandma, and Grandpa, he hadn't felt that kind of fear and loneliness. He didn't have to wish at night for someone to love him. There were so many people who loved him. And wanted what was best for him. Because that what family does.

In his life before he never would have had the courage to stand up and give a presentation. But that life was gone. And more importantly, so were the overwhelming feelings of fear, pain, and loneliness that had been a part of it.

He looked out at a sea of smiling faces and smiled right back. He had nothing to be nervous about.

"For my Thanksgiving project, I asked all the people at our Thanksgiving dinner to tell me their favorite Thanksgiving memories. Since we have a really big family, it took a long time but it was really fun to listen to them."

There were a few chuckles at that around the deck and any remaining tension in DJ's shoulders disappeared as he continued.

"I took pictures of everyone, and I also drew a picture of their memory." He held up one of his drawings. "Like this story my Uncle Danny told about when a pipe broke at my Nonna's house in New Jersey and ruined all the Thanksgiving food! But Nonna made a new meal out of the food she had in her pantry and Uncle Danny said it was one of the best Thanksgivings he ever had even though they didn't have turkey."

Nonna reached over for her grandson's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"My cousin Kaitlyn talked about the first Thanksgiving after she became a vegetarian and how she was a little nervous that there wouldn't be many things she could eat, but her family helped her realize that there were actually lots of dishes that were vegetarian at Thanksgiving. And how her brother Jacob helped her figure out which ones she could eat, and her Aunt Elizabeth," he looked up at her and smiled, "my grandma, made her a special pumpkin ravioli. She said that everyone being so nice about her decision and helping her know what to eat made her feel even more sure about her decision."

Ang patted Elizabeth's hand beside her, giving her a proud nod.

"My Aunt Carrie and Uncle John were sometimes on active duty in different places and one year he flew to South Korea for hours and hours to spend Thanksgiving with her. Then he flew all the way back because he only had a few days leave. They were in the mess tent and it was super, super cold but they said it was a great Thanksgiving because they had it together. This is a picture of them at my house this Thanksgiving, they're both stationed here at Pearl, now." He glanced down at the papers in his hands. "There's lots more memories that people shared, but like I said, my family is really really big so if I told them all I'd be talking for an hour."

"Nothing wrong with that," Danny quipped.

"Shhh," Nonna quieted him. She smiled softly at DJ. "Go on, tesoro."

DJ smiled back gratefully and looked down at his notes. "What I learned is that pretty much everybody talked about the food they love for Thanksgiving, but that wasn't what their memory was really about. It was about who made the food and who they shared it with. That's what's most special and most important about Thanksgiving." He looked up and smiled a little nervously, waiting for their reactions.

"Ohh DJ, that was beautiful," Elizabeth said, the first to speak. Her sentiments were quickly echoed by others with praise and applause and he beamed.

Catherine held out her arms to him and he hurried over for a hug. "That was perfect, sweet boy."

"Great job, buddy," Steve agreed, squeezing his shoulder.

"Yay, DJ!" Angie cheered. "You did a good p'esentation."

"You liked it?" he asked.

She nodded enthusiastically. "I liked it sooo much!"

"But you forgot one thing, DJ," said Grace with a smile.

His eyes widened, looking down at his notes. "What did I forget?"

"What's your favorite Thanksgiving memory?"

"Oh, that's right," Grandma Ang said. "We want to hear your favorite memory, too, sweetheart."

DJ smiled but didn't answer right away.

"Too many good ones to think of a favorite?" Danny asked.

DJ shook his head. "No, I know my favorite," he said quietly but firmly.

When he didn't immediately continue, Catherine leaned closer. "You don't have to say if you don't want to, honey."

"I want to," he assured her and smiled at his parents and Angie. "My favorite Thanksgiving memory is when you told everybody that you were adopting me and that I was part of your family. Our family," he quickly amended.

Catherine blinked back tears, far from the only person to do so, and hugged him again.

"Everybody was clapping and cheering and I had never been so happy before in my whole life," he continued, smiling at everyone on the deck. "And I knew that I was part of a real family, for Thanksgiving and every other day too."

"That's one of my favorite memories, too," Steve said, smiling softly and clasping his son's arm.

Angie slid off of Steve's lap to wrap her arms around her brother in a tight hug.

He smiled and said, "Last year I realized that it's kinda like me and Angie both joined our family on Thanksgiving, so I thought it was gonna be my favorite holiday because of that …"

"And …?" Joseph asked.

DJ beamed. "It still is. And I think it always will be."

THE END

Find all our stories (in chronological order!) on our website: marirealmcroll dot wixsite dot com backslash real-mcroll

Or in the McRoll in the REAL World community here on fanfiction dot net Find us on Tumblr: mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com

You can join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with: Add me, please! in the subject line. Or just drop us a line to say hi! We love hearing from our readers.