November 22

November 22, 1983, the day before Thanksgiving, marks a decisive separation in the Creed family's first year in Ludlow. Louis Creed drives his wife Rachel and their two children, Ellie and Gage, to Bangor International Airport and puts them on a Delta 727 bound for Chicago, where they will spend the holiday with Rachel's parents, Irwin and Dory Goldman. Louis himself remains in Maine, a choice that is both practical and deeply personal.

Departure and Family Dynamics

The morning of November 22 is clear, blue, and cold. Louis carries Gage, who looks "gigantic and wide-eyed in his first big-boy parka," while Ellie watches an Air Force helicopter take off from a window. Rachel, wearing a fur coat that makes her look "absolutely lovely," clutches three pink boarding cards. The family's mood is bittersweet: Rachel has protested Louis's decision not to come, saying, "I don't like thinking of you rattling around the house alone on Thanksgiving Day." Louis deflects her concern with humor, telling her he will spend the holiday with Jud and Norma Crandall, who have invited him for turkey and trimmings. As the family boards the plane, Ellie waves frantically from a window, and Louis waves back, feeling "homesick and lonely for them" even before the jet has left the ground.

Louis's Hidden Reasons

The true reason Louis avoids the trip is his long-standing, bitter antagonism with Irwin Goldman. Goldman, a wealthy Lake Forest businessman, had opposed Louis's marriage to Rachel from the start, once offering to pay Louis's entire medical school tuition if he would break off the engagement. Louis refused, and the two men have never reconciled. Louis reflects that four days with "Im-Ho-Tep and his wife the Sphinx" would be unbearable, and he prefers to send his grandchildren and daughter as a message rather than go himself. The departure leaves Louis feeling "very lonely indeed—ridiculously close to tears."

Evening After the Departure

That evening, Louis crosses Route 15 to the Crandalls' house for a couple of beers. Jud has stoked the Marek stove, and the three of them—Louis, Jud, and Norma—sit in the warm kitchen. Jud talks about the Micmac Indians and their history, but Louis is distracted by the empty house waiting for him across the road. When he returns home, the telephone rings; it is Rachel, calling to say they have arrived safely in Chicago. Louis tells her, "I wish to God you were here," a confession that underscores his loneliness and the emotional weight of the separation.

Narrative Role and Significance

November 22 functions as a threshold moment in the novel's structure. By sending his family away, Louis isolates himself in Ludlow, creating the conditions for the crisis that follows. That same night, Church is killed on Route 15, and Jud Crandall leads Louis to the Micmac burying ground to resurrect the cat. The departure also deepens the thematic tension between Louis and Rachel's family, reinforcing the novel's exploration of grief, guilt, and the lengths a father will go to protect—or reclaim—those he loves. The date marks the last time the Creed family is whole before the supernatural events that will ultimately destroy them.