The call came during my lunch period on a gray November afternoon. Margaret Turner’s voice was crisp and cold through the phone, each word precisely enunciated like she was addressing hired help. “Drew, we’ve decided it would be best if Thanksgiving remained an intimate family affair this year.
Miranda and Sophie will be attending, of course, but we feel the gathering is simply too crowded to accommodate everyone.”
I stood in my empty classroom, surrounded by posters of historical figures and student essays waiting to be graded, trying to process what my mother-in-law was actually saying.
“You’re uninviting me from Thanksgiving.”
“I’m suggesting that perhaps this year you might make other arrangements,” she said smoothly. “The table seats twenty-three comfortably, and we’re already at capacity with the extended Turner family.
Surely you understand.”
I understood perfectly. After seven years of marriage to their daughter Miranda, after giving them their only grandchild, I was being told I wasn’t family enough to share a holiday meal.
“Does Miranda know about this?” I asked.
“Miranda agrees it’s for the best. These family gatherings can be quite overwhelming, and frankly, Drew, there’s always been a certain… tension when you attend. We’d hate for anything to spoil Sophie’s day.”
The implication hung in the air like smoke.
The tension was my fault.
My presence was the problem. A high school history teacher with a state university degree didn’t quite fit the Turner family image.
“I see,” I said quietly. “Well, I hope you all have a lovely Thanksgiving.”
I hung up before she could respond, my hand shaking with suppressed anger.
My name is Drew Leon, and I’ve been teaching American history at Pinewood High for fifteen years.
I make forty-eight thousand dollars a year, drive a twelve-year-old Honda Civic, and live in a modest craftsman house I bought before my daughter Sophie was born. By most measures, I’ve built a good life—meaningful work, a home filled with books, and a six-year-old daughter who still thinks I hung the moon. But to the Turner family, I’m a disappointment they’ve tolerated for far too long.
Margaret and Carl Turner own Turner and Associates, a prestigious commercial real estate development firm.
The story doesn’t end here –
it continues on the next page.
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