I'm a lifelong single who, after my parents died, would sometimes be invited to a friend's family for Thanksgiving. I went a time or too but always felt like the pitied fifth wheel.

This holiday, I was invited by a decades-long friend to join her and her husband at IHOP; they are driving down from their home about 75 minutes away because their daughter is having the dinner at her in-laws. I am positively thrilled to share a meal at a diner. Their company is all the fixings I need.