Call me prolific, call me in a zone. I am back again with another commentary! I know I will not get one up tomorrow because I will be stuffing myself with turkey, dressing, scalloped corn, rolls, cranberry sauce, and pie. Thanksgiving is awesome. So I am here to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and tell you all about a memorable Thanksgiving six years ago. I am also honoring my friend Pat Ford with the title of this commentary.

The first year after myself and some of my friends graduated, we had all went our seperate ways. On that Thanksgiving though many of us had journeyed back home for the holiday. Mike and Austin were back from the Marines. Pat Ford was back from college. Josh was back from whatever town he was living in.Wayne, James, and I had never left. We all hooked up along with Toni and Amy to hang out. As we were talking, Toni, Wayne, and I were telling the others about a haunted place we had gone to a few times. We decided we should all go and have a Thanksgiving to remember. We had no idea how infamous it would become.

We loaded up two or three cars (can't remember, too much partying since then) and got on our way. Before we left town we stopped at the gas station for cigarettes and soda, and that was all. Well while we were there, Josh, as he so commonly does, started bragging to someone about what we were doing. Josh is not the brightest guy in the world considering this place has no trespassing signs up all over the place. So he is going on and on about it to someone as loud as possible while the rest of us our buying cigs and soda. We finally get out of there and back in the cars and on our way.

The place was out in the middle of nowhere, so we had a little drive ahead of us. It used to be kind of like a Foster home for children of poor families that could not afford them. The stories say the unruly ones were chained up in the attic (and there are chains on the walls there) and many were violent.

Anyway we were on our way out there and noticed that a Caprice had turned around behind us. It was still a long way back so we flashed brights at Pat. He stopped and we told him to split up from us, so we went different ways there. Let me rephrase that, we tried to go seperate ways. Within thiry seconds the bubble gum machines were flashing behind us and Mike (Bootie) pulled over. Right before the lights had came on we had all lit a cig (with the exception of Toni) and left the windows up.....why? I don't know, I guess just too nervous to roll them down. Mike did roll his down as the cop walked up and I am sure that looked great. Probably looked like a clam-bake Cheech and Chong style.

The officer walked up and asked for license and registration. Mike of course gave him both. The officer ask Mike and I to step out. We did and he asked what we were doing and we said riding around. He replied that he had a phone call saying we were on our way to the Haunted Place. I replied yes we were just to check it out. He replied that it was restricted property. We said but we weren't on it so what is the problem. He asked us for the beer we bought.

This blew us away! We weren't even nineteen yet and he was accusing us of buying beer, if that was the case I would be after the gas station first. Anyway we said, "I don't know but if you could tell us that would be nice." So he searched the car and of course came up with nothing. He then went back to his cruiser and we got back into the car. We all decided that that was very scary and we were glad it was over. Little did we know that we were really wrong.

The officer came back and asked Mike to get out of the car. He got out and the officer placed him under arrest. Mike didn't throw a fit but was visibly confused. The officer tells him it is for driving on a suspended license. This totally blows Mike's mind. In high school he had lost his license for illegal possession and transportation of alcohol by a minor. When he went into the Marines they got his license back for him and said all was good with it. Obviously......THEY LIED. So there was Mike putting his arms behind his back getting ready for the cuffs. The officer kinda looked at him strange and asked if he was going to cause problems. Mike said no and the cop told him he would cuff him in the front then.

All I could think of was at least Pat and the others had gotten free of all of this. Then the cop said our friends were getting checked over now as well, so there went the small glimpse of light that had been there.

The officer asked if I could drive and I said yes, so he checked my license and had me follow him back to the station. Pat and the rest caught up to us and followed us in as well.

We got to the station and went inside. Mike was already there talking to the officer (no longer in hand cuffs, thankfully). Toni, Mike's fiancee, was very upset but holding strong. Pat, James and Wayne asked for cups and then spent the next 3 minutes running them along the bars saying they were framed (never a dull moment with us). The officer was listening to mike tell him about how the Marines got his license all taken care of and so on. Finally, the officer asked Mike if he had a Military I.D. and Mike gave it to him. It was as this moment that the light at the end of the tunnel came back on.

The officer looked at it and seemed to rethink things. He looked at Mike and started telling him about when he was home on leave from the military and he had partied a little too much. He had been on his way home when he was stopped and the officer was also a former military man. Instead of the officer arresting him he did him a favor and took him home. So now he would do the same for Mike as long as when it came time that another miltary man needed help, Mike would be sure to do it. The story lasted nearly twenty minutes and bored the three cup bangers into submission. After Mike agreed he allowed him to go, as long as I drove home. So out the door we went.

We got out to the car and took off, it was then that Mike said, "I think I would have rather been thrown in jail than listen to that story." We all agreed and had a good laugh. Toni, then remembered the whole family was at her Grandma's and she had a scanner. She was worried they had heard and would be ready to kill. This was another lucky thing that happened for us. Right after we had left someone had knocked it off the table and broke the antenna.

None of you might find this funny but believe me, for us, it is hysterical to look back on. We talk about it every Thanksgiving we are together and enjoy picking on Mike more each time we do. This is not the type of thing that most people have as a memory on Thanksgiving but it is OURS and that makes it more special and funny than any one outside of us knows. I will remember the rest of my life.

Have a Happy-Safe-Non-Jail-Time Thanksgiving!!!!

Coopedaddy