Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I know there is a lot of hard stuff going on in the world right now, but there are still things to be grateful for. I’m very grateful for my health and the health of those I care about. Even though I’ve had multiple friends get sick, most of them have been able to fully recover or almost fully recover. I know that I am very privileged and lucky that this is the case, and I know that this can change at any time. But for now, that’s the biggest thing that I’m grateful for this year.
For my entire life, I have celebrated Thanksgiving with my family. It’s always been 3 or 4 generations together and it’s our big family time each year. This year, we are all celebrating with our own households. So for me, that means I’m celebrating alone.
I’ve never been alone for Thanksgiving before. I think the closest I’ve had to this was the year my parents couldn’t make it for Thanksgiving due to my mom having chemo and I was the only person from my immediate family there. But I was still with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. I’ve never been without a member of my family for Thanksgiving, but I also know that this is how it has to be. Being separate this year will hopefully allow us all to be together next year and for many years to come. It’s been tough to be ok with this idea, but I know it’s for the best.
I am going to attempt to make a little Thanksgiving for myself today. I’ve never made Thanksgiving food before, so I can’t guarantee that I won’t ruin it and will end up eating a microwave burrito or something. But I’ve decided to try to make a few things. I’ve got sweet potatoes so I can make a sweet potato casserole with pecans and marshmallows, green beans so I can make them with shallots and bacon, and a half turkey breast to roast. I don’t have stuffing or a lot of other things that my family usually has at Thanksgiving (and I don’t think I’ll be making gravy since the only thing I would maybe need it for would be the turkey). I also don’t have any Thanksgiving dessert, but I have some other dessert stuff I can have instead. Hopefully, I can make this food without ruining it and I will feel like I have a taste of Thanksgiving.
I hope that you all are safe and enjoying today. I know that it’s not easy to be happy when many of us are spending today alone when we normally are with family. But I’m trying to spend today focusing on the good and positive and the idea that I will be with my family again soon. And when we are together again, I know we are going to appreciate it so much more than we ever have. If this year has taught us anything, it’s to not take the smallest things for granted. I always assumed that being with my family each year was a guarantee. Now I will appreciate it more and never just think that it’s automatically going to happen.
And maybe next year I’ll have some funny stories to share with my family about how my first attempt at making Thanksgiving on my own goes. If I ruin it, it will be a good story. If I’m successful at it, it will still be a good story and maybe I’ll be able to help out more. No matter what, I’m sure I’ll have something to share with everyone and it will be entertaining.
