Thanksgiving

The way my family and I celebrate Thanksgiving, our traditions, have changed throughout the course of my life. Growing up my parents and I would head over to Pennsylvania to visit my father’s side of the family. There we’d engage in the typical “Thanksgiving” activities many people think of; we’d feast on turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, yams, green bean casserole, and pumpkin and pecan pie. One year we decorated the Christmas tree; Thanksgiving served as the defining day that helped kick start the Christmas season. Other foci of thanksgiving included being thankful for the blessings in one’s life and of course, the warm (hopefully) feelings of simply being together with family. Celebrating with my Pennsylvanian relatives was special because we didn’t get to see them all the time. Later my parents and I would have Thanksgiving at our house and different relatives would come over on the big day.  Although the location changed, the focus was the same—food, family, thankfulness and togetherness. Yet, for my family Christmas is a much bigger affair than is Thanksgiving and is thus, deemed more important by my family. Nowadays, I don’t see my family for Thanksgiving because of distance (I see them for Christmas however). So now I spend Thanksgiving differently every year and I spend it with other people’s families. And they usually have the same sorts of traditions my family has adhered to; the foci are the same as those described above.  It should be noted that the mentioning of pilgrims, Indians, or the like are never mentioned on the day.