We all have family traditions, some of which we take pride in, some of which we dread and despise but, whether you know it or not they are what make us who we are. One of my favorite traditions that I can truly say I’m passionate for would have to be Thanksgiving dinner. The dinner for the holiday goes by in a blink of an eye because of all the enjoyment. However, the preparations that lead up to the day are long and prestigious even though they are what make the dinner so great. Since the holiday comes up before we know it, we get started as soon as the year hits mid fall.
The first thing my family and I think about is who we are going to invite. We consider if thanksgiving this year will be a simple close family get together or loud aunts and uncles kind of gathering. We acknowledge what we did last year and choose the opposite to switch it up. The messages and emails are sent as soon as the invite list has been created. Replies from our family must be given as soon as possible only to make the preparations a little easier even though, we all know it will be hard anyway. Once we get all our responses in we can now move on to our next step.
Decorations are not that important for any family who celebrates thanksgiving but, in our family it is one of the main tasks. If my mom makes a scene if we wearing something that resembles even the slightest bit of a hobo. You know she will make a scene if the table is not at it’s best. We spend hours upon hours in the home decor stores, slowly making our way to stores like Hallmark for the small details. “The little things count” is a phrase we hear over and over again. So, “The little things count” is what we remind ourselves over and over again. Even a sprinkle or confetti or a small flower arrangement can make a huge difference.
Days pass until it is a about a day before thanksgiving. It is time to gather the food. We get what we get every year, the traditional mashed potatoes and turkey meal. We head to the grocery store as soon as we have generated a list. My mom leads the way, pushing the cart in front of my siblings and I through each aisle telling us what to get, as she stares into the list as if it is her mission to get everything on that list.
As an adult missing her childhood memories It’s hard to decide whether to keep those traditions or make new ones. For example, when she was a kid “... A football game hummed from the tv, a mixer whirred in the kitchen...” The author revealed some of the things her family did for thanksgiving when she was younger.
In an article by Pleck (2011) it was claimed that the pilgrims did not have ruffled shirts, buckled shoes nor did they consume on turkey at the harvest feast that occurred in 1621. This may come as a shock to most because growing up we were taught to believe these along with other “facts” about the harvest feast that we come to know as the first thanksgiving. The pilgrims lost many of their people in the winter of 1620 due to lack of foraging knowledge. This led the colony to form a relationship with the Wampanoag tribe. They taught them how to fish as well as gather vegetables. This is thought to be common knowledge but as previously stated this may not be completely true after all. Pleck was not the only person to uncover the truth about the harvest feast of 1621. A director named Ellis (2010) made a documentary that confirms the feast
Culturally Americans have accepted that Thanksgiving is a time for family to get together, so with greater emphasis being placed on social support and companionship the Thanksgiving holiday means even more (Solomon, 2013). Both our extended and nuclear family are part of that holiday, so videos like the one I selected drum up new excitement for the upcoming reunions. According to an article by The Food Channel, Thanksgiving for some goes hand in hand with family. There is an expectation of certain foods and an abundance of food. The video below is a snippet from a pastor’s sermon that was remixed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olu36QuHUWc
Thanksgiving Holiday means so much to me. I love to celebrate that extended weekend with my family. On the eve of the big day, my cousins and I meet at an elder’s house and then the festivities began. This shared feast started in 1621 with the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians sharing a harvest feast ("Thanksgiving," 2016). A portion of the food can be prepared the day before. We decide who would handle what task and when it time clean up the second generation, always try to make the third generation do it. We then continue to cook and clean and reminisce of our past year. Sometimes we would bring up our childhood pranks and stories of family members that passed and present. On the day of Thanksgiving we finish cooking,
Thanksgiving is a holiday when the whole family gets together and feast. In my family this is when all of my family members come together. The thing about my family is that we are like a broken family. Everyone doesn’t get along. So that causes a lot of problems on the table. My family is also outspoken and they like to start trouble. So that’s when the arguments start.
What does Thanksgiving mean to me? It would be dishonest of me to say that it is a time where I get to express what or who I am thankful for in my life. I do not think of it as a holiday where I am allowed to eat until I pass out either. In reality, Thanksgiving means time with my family. I do not just mean my parents and my siblings, I mean my whole family. I absolutely adore the fact that I have such an enormous family. Everyone comes home to my grandmother’s house on both sides of the family. Luckily, both of my grandmothers live within a five mile radius of each other. This means, after I spend time with my father’s side of the family, I can drive a couple of minutes to spend a bit of time with my mother’s side of the family. This is the
Don't forget your spice cabinet. It can be very frustrating to find that you do not have something you need on Thanksgiving day. You should also check your plastic wrap and foil to make sure you have enough.
Then we go to my grandma's and me and my cousins do stuff like play outside. Some people might not even celebrate thanksgiving. Then we go inside and my dad cuts the turkey. Which some people might just eat ham during thanksgiving or something else. When we had thanksgiving when my grandpa and uncle were still alive me and my cousins would go to the basement and hang out with my grandpa. Then later at night we would hang out with my uncle. Some people might even go out to a restaurant because they probably don't want to cook. My grandma thinks the same thing after Thanksgiving. But
When November the 21st hits the calendar, everyone is up for the start. Grocery stores are packed with a whole bunch of people, shopping carts are filled with harvests and the cashiers’ lines are long. But, that’s just the start of grocery shopping which, everyone hates because we’re quite impatient. The best and fun part of Thanksgiving is preparing the food and eating it. For every Thanksgiving, my mom and I and other people within my culture prepare “Soul food”. Soul food includes a variety of different meals, like cheesy baked macaroni, sweet, cinnamon candy yams, rotisserie turkey and more. Many people don’t know a lot about Soul food “until you take a yellow school bus through the African American culture”.
At 3 o’clock we start shooting, we don’t shoot animals, we shoot disks. Whoever can shoot the highest amount of disks in 5 minutes wins, whoever wins get $50, we do this for about 2 hours. The people I interviewed don't really do what I do. The most common thing i’ve noticed families do on Thanksgiving is play board games or just games around the table. Also, a few families have their family time outsides.
Thanksgiving is more than just a day off or a break from school, it’s more than just a holiday. It’s more than just stuffing your face with mash potatoes and turkey. It's a time to fellowship and give thanks. This year has brought about multiple challenges, but we have stayed faithful and strong as a family. There is nothing more powerful than our family. God has blessed me with such a solicitous family.
A Lot of people get trampled each year and suffer severe injuries and that's not good because Thanksgiving is to be grateful and happy for what you have
When thanksgiving comes, at about four o’clock, my family starts to cook turkey. When it's about five o’clock when the turkey is done cooking. We put it in a broad pan and wrap tinfoil around it. When it's six o’clock, we head to the REC center when it's closed. Me and my family set up the tables and chairs. When we are setting up the tables and the chairs, we wait for our family to come over to the REC. As my family is arriving, they have food with them to the REC centers kitchen. When everybody is there, me and most of my family goes inside the gym. We start to shoot around until everybody was inside the gym.
no idea on how much. We both are going on what we think is enough.
Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate our joys with friends and family. Unfortunately, if you are the person designated to cooking the holiday dinner, the joys can turn into complete and total fear. I'll never forget the first time I made Thanksgiving dinner for twenty family members and friends. I waited until the last minute to start and the dinner ended in a complete disaster. In the years following that failure, I have learned that preparing a Thanksgiving dinner is easy...if you plan ahead.