This past Thursday is my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. It’s the kickoff to the entire holiday season through January, which makes me even more happy! It’s always difficult to describe Thanksgiving to my friends abroad. I’ll send them pictures to entice them to come and visit. This holiday is deeply routed in our American roots, but as a nation of Indigenous Peoples and immigrants, it’s a holiday that means something different to each of us. The food may reflect our cultural backgrounds [for us, it’s the heavy, carb-happy, Germanic influences]. For some families, the food takes a few days to prepare. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is on TV, which is more of a concert now, rather than watching all the balloons. I miss the balloons. Followed by a football game.
For the most part, I’m in the mindset of reflecting the things I’m grateful for. I commute 3 hours to see family for a weekend and eat a large meal [the only one of the day]. Thanksgiving means more than that to me. My 3-hour drive back to home made time for reminiscing and thinking about what means the most in life.
Growing up, we always had two fabulous meals, one meal on both sides of the families. I loved holiday get-togethers. Catching up with cousins near and far, sharing stories and laughing over a cocktail, smelling all the delicious food cooking. Lovely core memories. Like any family-based holiday, the dynamic shifts with family members passing away, someone new hosts the meal, the flux of family members attending or not attending. It’s always hard to look back and think about that “last Thanksgiving”. The last time I could build a snowman in the yard. The last time my dad was at the table. That last time my grandma hosted. The last time. I hold these memories dear to me. I’m grateful to have these times to look back and remember the laughter, the food, and sharing around a table.
Snow had fallen mostly the entire time I was visiting family. Seasons change as a reminder that life evolves for all of us. Thanksgiving seems to be a lot quieter now, but still with a good meal and conversations with family and extended family. I’m sure it will eventually change. Meanwhile, I’m home, enjoying the leftover food from this holiday. Hope my fellow Americans also had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
