Some of my favorite Black Fridays involve my daughter, husband and/or mother-in-law(who passed away in 2012). My husband and I used to go to Walmart early to get stuff to price match and mark the price match stuff with post it notes to make it easier. My mother-in-law would go to the same Walmart with my sisters-in-law around the time my husband and I were ready to check out. She would usually look at our cart for something she could get our kids for Christmas. One year, my son wanted a Joker and Batman action figure set. I hadn't seen it, but decided to do one more lap around the store. I was excited to find one just laying on top of a box by the garden section. When my mother-in-law looked at the cart, I showed the action figure set to her. She gave my son the Joker and Batman and he absolutely loved it! They both ended up happy. The first Black Friday my daughter came along with my husband and I was the first year Toys R us opened on Thanksgiving. It was her first store and that store was an absolute mess. It was packed. No one knew where the line was, people were throwing down their stuff and leaving. We finally found an employee that told us where the end of the line was. We waited for well over an hour, get to the front of the line and a lady told us to go to another line because the line we were in wasn't a line. A few of us protested and were able to check out after some other people went in front of us. We ended up going to a different city the Black Fridays after that. The Toys R Us there was much more organized. The next year, my daughter and I split up and checked out separately. I grabbed the stuff on my list and checked out in 5 minutes. I thought I had done well, but my daughter was already putting her stuff in the car. She became a Black Friday veteran and we made a great team. I haven't been Black Friday shopping with her in a few years, but it was fun while it lasted. Throughout the years, Black Friday has changed. My husband and I used to wait out in the cold for Walmart to open so we could afford things for our little ones. Some stores have come and some have gone. We have found great deals like the $148 TV at Walmart and the Loopz game my son really wanted for $5. We went shopping with different members of our family. When I think of Black Friday, it brings some sadness because of the ones we lost, but it also brings joy because of the memories we made.
