The Spirit of Thanksgiving

It’s not traditional, but it’s my tradition.

Without devolving into a (now) generic pejorative article about past bloodshed and systemic issues glossed over with a warm fantasy story about tolerance and shared food in tough times 401 years ago, I instead will make this more personal and current about how I am feeling regarding Thanksgiving today.

My mother asked me two days ago, as she does every year, what are you going to do on the holiday?

My mother was not very happy to hear that I was not excited about the holidays. I could sense the disappointment in her voice, the hitch in her words, the drop in her tone.

She proceeded to explain to me, as if I didn’t live my own past, that she cooked a Thanksgiving meal every year. That wasn’t exactly true. I was from a hers mine and our’s family, and I was the (ours). My brother went to his biological mother’s family, and my sister went to her biological father’s where left at home. My mother cooked a meal, but she often cooked a normal meal every evening when I was young, but later after my siblings moved out, we would go to a restaurant with a pretty nice Thanksgiving buffet. It was frequented more often by the elderly, but I liked it. Beat cleaning dishes.

Now my parents have moved across the Pacific Ocean, and regionally, we are separated by a massive western American state from my husband’s family, so my little nuclear unit of a family spends our holidays quietly. It is my preference, but it does not feel like a holiday most years.

About an hour ago, I started the ham. I have never tried to cook a big bird. I prefer ham anyway. My kids nor my husband mind me making that choice since it does not require me to be anxious about thawing out a turkey for many days before the meal.

It is small, and we don’t go anywhere or make a big fuss over traditions, but we are going to sit down and eat a home-cooked meal, much like I did while I was growing up.

This is how I spend my Thanksgiving. I am thankful for many things, but paramount on the list is that I don’t need to cook a bird.

What are you thankful for?

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