Hi. Today I am writing. All week I’ve been writing. Hence the absence here…. which makes me sad/happy, as usual.
I am stopping in though to say: thank you, thank you. What you give to me with your comments, your friendships here, your encouragement is something I cherish.
Today I am wondering (as I prepare for a kind of anticlimactic day tomorrow, now that both sets of friends who were coming to dinner have canceled due to the flu…) how do you celebrate Thanksgiving? Is it a holiday that you love? What makes it special? What ritual or tradition do you have that doesn’t, maybe, entirely, focus on an enormous meal? I’m so looking forward to reading your replies as I feel like I really want to change this holiday up around here. I’m hoping for inspiration.
it is my favourite holiday as everyone can gather but no one has to buy gifts! we always pick names out of a hat for christmas on thanksgiving and keep them a secret. it is fun. our thanskgiving (in canada)is in october though so it gives people more time to shop before the next holiday. we usually play a boardgame or cards once all the kids go to bed. we have even been known to play charades, which sounds dorky but can be fun to see your family participate in.
The past few years our Thanksgiving has been more non traditional in that my parents go to Mexico with friends who have a timeshare. We instead played games and wore pjs at the thanksgiving tabled and then had friends another year. Last year we did regular thanksgiving without pjs or games and had chicken instead and invited our older neighbor to join us. This year we are going to my parents for a normal holiday I guess but I am bringing a turkey pinata! Ole.
I, too, love Thanksgiving. It seems to be the sole holiday that hasn’t been “commercialized.” The only reasons to gather are to be thankful and to be together. (And, well, to EAT.) When I was little we always had everyone to our house, and my mom always had a jigsaw puzzle going, and there were always card games and yahtzee. I have tried the games the past two years, but my mother-in-law has some memory issues and isn’t really able to play. She isn’t really able to carry on a conversation either. Last year, I googled “Thanksgiving Poems,” printed out a bunch and my oldest daughter and I cut them out and scattered them in the center of our table. It was great, people would pull a poem and read it out loud whenever a kid asked for one. It seemed to be something to do, and a conversation starter that had no expectation. We are doing it again this year, and I am going to put up a card table with a puzzle. We’ll see if it works!
Nice to see you back. I have been hanging in the shadows lately, not much to say, but here, none-the-less.
Thank you to you, Christina, for always sharing with us.
Thanksgiving to us revolves around the meal. The cooking together, the snacking all day, the bonding. We play outside, or build LONG train tracks all over the living room. Our schedules are so busy and hectic that we just really try and enjoy … and rest. A nap is a mandatory ritual on Turkey Day.
Glad you’ve been writing, even though you are missed when you do
I love Thanksgiving for the simpleness of it — the food, the family, the feelings of gratitude that overflow. I love that it doesn’t require gifts that cost anything, but rather the “gift” of telling others we are thankful for them. I wish you and all 3 of your boys a very happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful for your writing, as it always touches my heart and makes me wish to read more.
I love most how we have lifted up and made our own a holiday that is not celebrated in the country we live in, and I can’t imagine a better way to personify our country than with the one truly American holiday celebration: who else has a day to GIVE THANKS?? If that doesn’t make America awesome, I don’t know what does.
Here it’s not a holiday, not a day off, nothing special. But every year, for the past 13 years, including this year, we have hosted a Thanksgiving potluck on the Saturday after Thanksgiving for our best friends here: other American/Swedish couples who appreciate this chance to gather as much as we do. Anders cooks the (three!) turkeys and stuffing and gravy and mashed potatoes, (my jobs are grocery shopping, invitations, delegating potluck items, house cleaning before & after). Everyone else is delegated to bring the must-haves: pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, extra dressing, cranberry sauce, etc. It’s AWESOME.
And on the evening of the actual Thanksgiving, I spend a lovely couple of hours with friends making our Christmas wreaths and table decorations.
For us, Thanksgiving is all about the large gathering of the extended family. Except this year we’re breaking tradition. My husband and I are going camping with my sister and her husband, just the younger generation. I need the breathing space and can’t wait for tomorrow morning.
Here is what my sister’s inlaws do
http://upinbubbles.blogspot.com/2008/11/perfect-day.html
You know I have been thinking about this, and I have been thinking that there just isn’t enough pasta in life. So if it was up to me (which it is not) I would make several kinds of pasta big bowls of it and cuddle up with a book and the fire
I’m so sorry to hear about your canceled guests! Boo on the flu.
I love the holiday because of the feast, which is such a traditional way of celebrating things. Celebrating abundance and the harvest brings me front and present with how good I (we) have it in a country of so many varieties of beautiful tasty foods…and the same goes for friendship.
It’s been a day of calling everyone I love and taking the time to tell them specifically why my life has been so positively affected by them.
Our only ritual other than eating our favorite foods is to go round the table and tell one another exactly WHY we’re so grateful for that person. It always brings tears and everyone feels seen. Those who don’t say much for the year get put in the hot seat to verbalize how they feel about others and it’s beautiful to watch.
I’m thankful for your song of a voice and your raw vulnerability. Beauty is here each time I visit!
I wish you a sweet and meaningful day with your loved ones, gorgeous!
xop
Games and puzzles are my favorite part of Thanksgiving as well. One of my best holiday memories is of a couple of years ago when a circle of friends spent Thanksgiving afternoon on our living room floor playing Dutch Blitz and laughing together. I think the holiday is a perfect excuse to forget about responsibilities (paper plates, anyone?) and have fun with the people we’re most thankful for. I’m looking forward to seeing how Thanksgiving inspiration hits you!
Yeah, it’s kinda all about the food. Which is a tradition, and it’s wonderful in its own way. When I think of Thanksgiving, I think of the Thanksgiving parade in the background, of all the good smells coming out of the kitchen…the waiting!
This year it’s going to be different because we’re celebrating it at my house…yikes! My grandma is bringing the pies and dressing, we’re grilling a turkey breast, I’ll be whisking up casseroles and salads. (You can’t have a proper Southern Thanksgiving without sweet potato casserole…) My brother and his new wife won’t be with us…today they’re delivering Thanksgiving meals with the United Way. They’re making their own tradition. Which, FINE…but Thanksgiving really is about being together.
I’m waiting until Sat. for the family dinner. How’s your NaNo going?
We launch a rocket on Thanksgiving, or my boy does with many spectators. It started when he became interested in rockets we found at a toy store near our house in VT. There we would frequently lose the rockets to trees. Now we are in TX and there are more wide open spaces. They shoot up several hundred feet and are fun to watch.
And the week before Thanksgiving we donate food and help get food boxes ready to be delivered.
an afternoon walk with the fam.
watching “Home for the Holidays.”
calls, texts, e-mails to beloveds to say, “thank you. i love you.”