"Sometimes, I just go off to Planet Alex."

The family table roared with laughter when they heard the proclamation I made above. The word "roared" is not an exaggeration. It was a crowded table. When my mom's family gathered for holiday celebrations, my grandmother insisted we all sit around the same table. I am not sure how all nine of Grandma Marge's children, all of their spouses, all 17 of her grandchildren (a number which grew by two following her death), and her sister managed to squeeze around a single table, but somehow she managed to have all of her family around a common table on every Christmas and Easter. This was the massive crowd to whom I announced that I go to "Planet Alex."