Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Until I was about fifteen, my favorite holiday was Christmas, as it is for most little kids who will take any excuse to demand presents. But it was around the time I started driving that people started to expect me to buy them presents for Christmas. And so, Christmas dropped a few levels on the holiday scale, and Thanksgiving took its place as the number one best holiday of the year.
And here’s why: there’s no hassle when it comes to Thanksgiving. No gift shopping, no church going, no unnecessary dress code or cheesy holiday cards. It’s just friends, family, and food. In my house at least, Thanksgiving is the source of my most outrageous, awkward, and memorable family stories. To get you excited to spend a little time with the fam, I’ll share with you my favorite Thanksgiving story.
I’m Italian, so whenever my family has an excuse to get together there are always twelve different types of wine involved. When I turned eighteen, my parents finally decided it was appropriate for me to drink wine with them on “special occasions only” (little did they know my grandfather had been slipping me glasses of wine for years).
Naturally, Thanksgiving counted as one of these “special occasions”. I took it as an opportunity to prove to my parents that I could drink wine with them and maintain myself like an adult. So I had a glass of wine. And another. And another. When my aunt brought out a bottle of champagne I decided to mix it up a little. So I had a glass of champagne. And another. And another.
Before I knew it I was eating mashed potatoes with my hands and braiding my grandmother’s hair. When it came time for everyone to say what they were thankful for, I announced that I was thankful for the Twilight series and my brother’s really cute friends. Needless to say, I landed in bed that night before the apple pie was even out of the oven, and woke up the next morning with a severe headache and bits of turkey in my hair.
That was the first and last time my parents ever let me drink wine with them, and to this day my family still makes fun of me for my embarrassing Thanksgiving performance. And while my memory of that night may still be a little fuzzy, I can confidently say that it was one of the best nights I’ve ever spent with my family, just telling stories, laughing at each other, and eating really great food. To me, that’s what Thanksgiving is all about.
So whether you’re pumped to go home and see your family, or dreading the time away from your friends at school, remember that times like these only come along once a year. Be thankful for the fact that you don’t have to buy anything for anyone, and enjoy every overstuffed bite of your home-cooked Thanksgiving dinner. When it’s all over, maybe you’ll have a few more stories to share. And wherever you find yourself on this amazing holiday, whoever you find yourself with, pour yourself a glass of wine and see where the night takes you.