Ariel:
My family has made traditional Thanksgiving dinners for as long as I can remember. We live near my dad’s family, so we always get together at someone’s house for Thanksgiving festivities. Everyone is in charge of bringing a different typical Thanksgiving dish. My personal favorite is a sweet potato souffle one of my uncles makes every year. It is delicious! For many years, I made apple pie with my mom. This recipe was passed down from my great-grandmother Margaret McGill Nelson. In the morning, my family prepares our designated dishes, while the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade is usually on in the background. “Dinner” is usually around lunch time and snacking extends through the rest of the day. There is lots of visiting and often card/board games are brought out. My immediate family often does a scaled-down version of a Thanksgiving meal the next day.
Olivia:
My immediate family has never been one for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner since my dad usually did not have the holiday off of work. For those years, we would treat it like any other day off of school. In the years when my dad was able to celebrate with us at home, we would travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, and attend a huge family reunion with my mom’s family.
My mother’s grandparents (my great-grandparents) were married around Thanksgiving time, so their anniversary often falls on Thanksgiving. Even though my great-grandparents are no longer alive, we would all gather to celebrate their marriage and Thanksgiving together. I remember attending this reunion throughout my life. We didn’t go every year, but we went often. It was so fun to see all my cousins, aunts, and uncles, as well as my great-aunts and uncles with their children. I remember one year someone brought a “dessert” to the reunion and it was just a mold of jello filled with corn, peas, and carrots. I did not try any, and years later the thought of that dish still haunts me!! Sometimes we rented several bounce houses for this reunion and the kids would spend most of the day jumping. We would also do “Minute to Win It” type games. The attendance of this reunion would change from year to year, but we would easily have 150-200 people there at any given time.
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Take some time today to record what your Thanksgiving traditions look like. Here are some sample questions to help you get started:
Do you have the same meal every year?
What dishes are prepared and by who?
Who is in attendance?
Do you host or are you hosted?
Do you stay home or do you travel?
What do you do after your Thanksgiving meal?
What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?
Do you have any fun or unique traditions?
What is the funniest memory you have of Thanksgiving?
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