Every year on November 1st I begin to prepare for my favorite time of year. While everyone else is prepping their Christmas decorations, I am getting giddy thinking about Thanksgiving; my favorite holiday of all.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a big gift-giving gal, and I LOVE Christmas, but there is something so soothing about Thanksgiving for me. I love the foods of the season and the little traditions we’ve created throughout the years.
I come from a pretty large extended family, but as life changes, less people join us at the Thanksgiving dinner table. I remember being very small and sitting with my cousins as we watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade together. My grandma would make her homemade cinnamon rolls and we’d all take the time to just be together.
My cousins would eventually leave me later in the day for other responsibilities, but those memories of all of us together stick with me.
A few years back, the Buffalo Bills were playing on Thanksgiving, so my older cousins and I went upstairs to watch the game while we waited for dinner. I don’t think it meant that much to them that we were all together, but it certainly made me tear up to see the similarities between early youth and young adulthood.
The whole process of getting your plate together and chatting up your family is so reminiscent for me. Even when I was in elementary school, plate =-filling time was when everyone waited around in the kitchen and laughed with each other as we looked forward to filling our bellies.
The only difference this year is that, with the passing of my grandmother this spring, there is one less plate to fill and I’m not sure who will be sitting at the head of the table. Everyone has a specific seat at the table, and the head was always where the matriarch of the family sat.
Even now, as my cousins as are all older than me and in their twenties, there is a divide of where the “kids” sit versus where the “adults” sit. Sure, while it could be seen as a respect thing, it’s still one of my favorite aspects of the holiday. This is my dedicated time to hear about the trials my cousins are going through with college and the best parts of their years. Family bonding time is what I look forward to every year.
While no one can ever agree which dish is the best at the table, I definitely have a list of my top 5 favorites, starting with a classic, mashed potatoes. They’re not a common side for me and I always look forward to the warm feeling they give me. In second place is canned cranberry sauce. Yes, the one with the rings from the can on it. While this one is available basically whenever I want, it’s still a treat for me on Thanksgiving. Third place is pumpkin pie with whipped cream. No further explanation except that I never used to like pumpkin pie, and then one day it became the best not-too sweet treat. In fourth place is the leading star; the turkey. Turkey just really ties the whole meal together, and for my family, it’s something that we always laugh over trying to decide when to take it out. Lastly is an American classic apple pie with vanilla ice cream. As soon as the meal is finished, the coffee orders start coming in and so do the dessert orders. Shoutout to my uncle for always being on top of making sure we have our pie the right way. *wink*
I think Thanksgiving is really a day to give thanks for everything that we have gained throughout the year. It’s a day to celebrate what makes a family (even when it’s a chosen family) and why we stick together.
Happy Thanksgiving!