Thanksgiving story: One holiday gathering was going to be a little out of the ordinary

Whenever someone wants to know what was my most memorable Thanksgiving, I don't usually have to think for very long to come up with my answer. For several years we would go to Thanksgiving at my brother-in-law's home over by Lake Hefner in Oklahoma City.

This particular year, I got up early and went to a 5K Turkey Run. After the race, I drove back home to Choctaw and picked up my wife who had been cooking all morning. We took a couple of pots of food over to my in-laws listening to "Alice's Restaurant" by Arlo Guthrie on the way over. It was a tradition that KRXO would play Arlo's classic every year at noon, and we always timed it so we could hear it on the way over to the in-laws' house. We were supposed to be there at 1 p.m. for the family luncheon. It always took at least a half hour to get to their house. "Alice's Restaurant" ran almost 20 minutes.

When we got to their neighborhood, there was road construction so we had to go in a back way, but it was still just after 12:30 when we found a parking spot on the crowded street. We grabbed a pot of food apiece and rushed up to the porch. I knocked on the door and heard, "Come in." I entered the home followed by my wife. I saw more people than usual, but sometimes my in-laws invited people from their church. I gave my nephew, who was seated at a corner table, a wave and carried the food into the kitchen.

I did think it was kind of odd that everyone had already started eating as I thought we were on time. I sat my pot of food down on a table in the kitchen where even more people were seated. It was then I had time to look around and I noticed I did not know anyone in the room. I got this sinking feeling in my stomach as I realized we were at the wrong house! Everyone was very friendly and they even invited us to join them for their lunch. The "nephew," well, at a closer glance, he sort of resembled our nephew, but it wasn't him.

The people promised they wouldn't tell my in-laws, who lived next door, as we hurriedly exited. Over the years I have come to accept that perhaps it was just a perfect storm that allowed those events to happen: I was perhaps tired from the race, we were in a hurry, had to take a slightly different route, it was a crowded street, and an overcast day. Probably the real truth is that I was still singing the refrain of "Alice's Restaurant" in my head and not really paying attention to anything. Nothing wrong with that!

John Carpenter, of Choctaw, is a retired U.S. probation officer, a life-long Oklahoman and proud graduate of Oklahoma State University.  

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Thanksgiving gathering seemed a little strange that year