Day: November 26, 2025

• Last year, my son decided not to come home from college for Thanksgiving.
• This year, he’s staying on campus again because finals are too close.
• I’m not mad because my husband and I now fly out to California to visit him for Thanksgiving.

This is my son’s sophomore year at a university more than 1,000 miles from our home. While it was initially a tough transition to send our only child away, the empty nest pangs are not nearly as bad now. I only misted up a tad during drop-off this August, instead choosing to focus on how happy he is — and on all of his academic and personal growth.

Maybe that’s why I didn’t mind much when my son told me he didn’t want to come home for Thanksgiving last year — and when he told me he wanted to skip the holiday again this year.

His decision actually makes perfect sense and gave our family an opportunity to try something new.

Growing up, my son enjoyed traditional family Thanksgivings

When he was younger, our Thanksgivings looked exactly as one might expect. Our extended family held massive dinners to mark the holiday, with turkey, ham, and every imaginable trimming.

It was a time he got to connect with his cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. We never missed one of those special celebrations. From extended post-dinner board games to turkey trot jogs and touch football games when the weather permitted, we had a lot of fun.

I know our son made special and strong memories during those yearly feasts and play sessions centered on giving thanks.

As a freshman, he had to make adjustments to Thanksgiving

During his freshman year, my son balanced his newfound independence with a larger, more difficult class load than he’d ever had in high school. With finals right around the corner, he was feeling the stress and knew he needed to buckle down. I understood that school is now his priority.

He was the one to first float the idea of staying on campus for the Thanksgiving break, instead of packing up and coming home for such a short amount of time.

Instead of being upset, my husband and I appreciated his rationale. Everything else that year had been turned upside-down because of his college departure. Why not shake up Thanksgiving, too?

His dad and I immediately bought our plane tickets, booked a hotel room near our son’s campus, and prepared to hit the road for the holiday. We would still be together for Thanksgiving, but it would just be our little family of three.

When we explained to our son’s grandparents, aunts, and uncles that we wouldn’t be attending the big family bash, they were a little disappointed at first. Ultimately, they understood and respected our decision. After all, they’d see him just a few weeks later. We assured them the winter break was non-negotiable: He would absolutely be home for Christmas.

We had Thanksgiving in California for the first time last year

We packed our bags and traded the Midwestern chill for SoCal’s palm trees and balmy weather.

We spent as much time with our son as we could during the long weekend, and had a lovely time on campus, the nearby beach, and exploring the area’s hotspots. It was a perfect gathering, just right for the three of us.

Truth be told, the relative peace of our alternative celebration was a striking contrast to the hustle and bustle, and yes, the pressure of Thanksgivings past. It was also a sunshine-filled breather before the craziness of December back home.

We’re all in on our non-traditional Thanksgiving for the second year

My husband and I head out to the West Coast on Thursday morning. We’ll land, check in, pick up our kid, and might hit In-N-Out for a no-frills, no-fuss dinner that evening.

As for the rest of the weekend? We’ll just go with the flow and see where it takes us. It doesn’t have to look a certain way. It doesn’t have to be perfect. We don’t have to be anywhere at any definite time. There’s something quite freeing about all of that.

Would this arrangement work for everyone? Probably not. For some, skipping town for Thanksgiving might cause deep hurt or resentment, as I know full well, family dynamics are quite different for each individual. Fortunately, this option has turned out to be better than we imagined, and I’m more than OK with it. I’m grateful for it.

• Russia added rear-view cameras to some of its Shahed-type drones to see Ukrainian interceptors.
• Interceptor drones, which chase Russian drones, have become one of Ukraine’s top defensive tools.
• A senior Ukrainian defense official said that Russia has been modifying its Shaheds.

Russia has been adding rear-view cameras to some of its Shahed-type drones, allowing operators to see Ukrainian interceptors approaching from behind and take evasive action, a senior defense official told Business Insider.

Lt. Col. Yurii Myronenko, Ukraine’s deputy minister of defense for innovation, said Russia is “constantly testing” new deep-strike weapons, including modifying its Shahed-type drones and fielding new models.

“Some Shaheds have already been equipped with rear-view cameras to detect and respond to our interceptors,” said Myronenko, a former drone unit commander.

Ukrainian forces have previously discovered rear-facing cameras on Russian decoy and reconnaissance drones. The comments from Myronenko underscore how Moscow is continuing to adapt to one of Kyiv’s newest — and most-sought-after — air defense tools: interceptor drones.

Russia has been investing heavily in its drone operations over the past year. Its defense industry is producing thousands of drones modeled after the notorious Iranian-designed Shahed every month, and Moscow routinely launches hundreds of them at Ukraine in nighttime attacks.

Facing a worsening threat situation, Ukraine has turned to interceptor drones as a solution. The drones, designed to be low-cost, are made to hunt the cheap Shaheds, which carry an explosive warhead that can be highly destructive if it reaches its target, often in civilian areas.

Interceptor drones have eased the burden carried by Ukraine’s other air defenses, and Kyiv is now producing hundreds a day. Meanwhile, NATO militaries and some Western companies have been eyeing the technology as an opportunity for investment.

Western forces have also taken note of the Russian camera additions. US Army Sgt. Riley Hiner told Business Insider at a NATO event in Poland last week that Moscow has equipped its Shaheds with thermal seekers on the rear, allowing them to detect interceptor drones approaching from behind.

“Sometimes they’ll maneuver,” said Hiner, who has been involved in training NATO forces to use an interceptor drone that has logged extensive combat experience in Ukraine. It’s now being deployed to Poland and Romania following a string of Russian airspace violations in September.

When the threats maneuver, interceptor drone pilots have to adjust their speed and course, Hiner said.

The deployment of interceptor drones and Russia’s subsequent installation of cameras is a clear demonstration of what officials have described as a cycle of action and reaction in Ukraine, where one side develops a capability, and the other side learns to counter it. A common phenomenon in war, this cycle is progressing very rapidly in Ukraine.

“Technological warfare is a cat-and-mouse game,” Myronenko shared of the situation in Ukraine today. “Each new technology grants one side an advantage for a certain period — typically three to four months — until the other side develops a countermeasure.”

For instance, he said, the Shahed drones that Russia used earlier in the war were equipped with a four-channel antenna. Ukraine quickly learned to jam them with electronic warfare, so Moscow adapted. Now, Shaheds fly with a 16-channel antenna.

“This game continues nonstop,” Myronenko said.

The cat-and-mouse cycle of action and reaction, evolution and response, has extended well beyond the Shaheds to other weapons and areas of the battlefield.

Earlier in this war, the small first-person-view (FPV) quadcopter drones were exclusively controlled by radio frequencies. Eventually, both sides learned how to use electronic warfare to jam the drones, rendering them less effective.

Now, Ukraine and Russia are increasingly relying on long spools of fiber-optic cables to connect operators to their FPV drones. This technology is jam-resistant, making the drones far more dangerous on the battlefield.

Meanwhile, in the Black Sea, Ukraine built naval drones to attack Russian ships. When Moscow responded to the growing threat to its warships by increasing air patrols over the waterway, Kyiv gave its drone boats surface-to-air missile launchers to threaten the Russian jets and helicopters. It’s a constant cycle of innovation.