This story originally aired on January 20, 2018.
Thanksgiving dinner at the house where Christina Hayes grew up, in the Tri Cities in Eastern Washington, has all the normal things.
Her parents, who met in bible college, are there, along with extended family. There’s turkey and mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie: By all appearances they are a completely typical American family holiday.
“We’re playing, we’re laughing, we’re joking, we’re prepping food. We are like the Hallmark family,” Hayes said.
But Christina, who lives in Seattle, brought along a tape recorder this year, and interviewed her mom and dad about some of the twists and turns their family’s story has taken. It’s not the family Christina would have pictured when she was a kid, but it’s one she says she’s profoundly lucky to have ended up with.
