Don't you want somebody to love..

On the night that Charlie and his friends get together to exchange their Secret Santa gifts and regular Christmas presents, Charlie gets his first real kiss. The thing is, it comes from Sam and it adds to the idea that for only the third time since his aunt Helen died, someone said “I love you”; the last two times where his mother, so those don’t even really count.
The whole kiss is set up by a revealing story from Sam that makes the meaning of the kiss all the more important. Charlie learns from Sam that her first real kiss came from an adult male- a friend of her uncle. It was a forced kiss and it was more like a molesting kiss than anything else. The idea is disturbing enough that Sam can’t help but cry while she tells the story which starts Charlie crying as well. In the end, Sam decides that she needs to kiss Charlie. He has never been kissed by a girl and Sam wants to make sure that if you are going to receive your first, most memorable kiss, one you will never forget, it should not be forced, it should not be scary; it should be from someone you love and who loves you.
She asks Charlie to forget about her ‘boyfriend; Craig for just a minute and that they can’t ever “be together like that” and she kisses Charlie.
Just the thought that someone cares enough about him and his future and how the wrong experiences early in life can shape you entire future is a Christmas present enough for Charlie that in the end, no material gift could have even been better.

Thanksgiving and Football

Anyone that has an extended family knows what holidays can be like, and Charlie’s are no different. The constant bickering that starts after the drinking is what eventually becomes a major war. Leading the battle is Charlie’s grandfather, his mother’s father, who is very bitter and usually outspoken. Charlie talks about Thanksgivings of the past where the arguing was the worst and people insulted each other until it was time to go home.
This Thanksgiving ends up being the best one yet and it all seems to come together due to the fact that Charlie’s brother is not able to be home for dinner with the family. Instead, he is in his college’s annual football game and with that game taped, Charlie’s family makes the best of not having their oldest son around.
Ironically, the idea of someone missing from the family gathering actually brings the family closer together. During the replaying of the game, everyone, his grandfather included, sit around the TV and cheer on their family member. No one says a bad thing. Most people are smiling.
In the end, when everyone is sitting around the table talking about what they are ‘thankful for’; Charlie says the football game because everyone was quiet and no one fought. His Aunt Helen adds an “Amen” to it and it seems to make everyone realize that by fighting all these years, they have missed out on the joys they have now as a family. It took the youngest member of the group to point it out to the rest of the family.