The drives were long, but the company was fantastic.

Like in recent years, our immediate family spent the Thanksgiving Holiday in the mountains.

In a small town in North Carolina, my parents, my brothers and their families and myself, spent the holiday just being together.

Because of work, I had to drive up to Hayesville on Wednesday, which is always a treacherous endeavour.

The Atlanta traffic, from I-285 north to I-75 and forward a little ways is always bad. The traffic expectation didn’t disappoint a week ago.

What usually takes a more-than six-hour trip took me more than eight hours. Additionally, there was a wreck in Blue Ridge, which cut into my time.

By the time I arrived, I was so thankful to have been there. I was thankful to be around my family again.

The first night included a family dinner, we hung out during Thanksgiving Day and had all the trimmings for the big feast.

My brothers’ families left on Friday and Saturday. My parents and I watched the Iron Bowl, had dinner and went to bed later that evening.

The next day, I left mid-morning and my parents went to church.

Thinking about the weekend as a whole, I’m thankful for the special time I had with each one of my family members.

I’m thankful to say the least.