In the midst of the pandemic, Thanksgiving traditions are being sizing down to only household members for many students, including myself.
It is universal knowledge that the point of Thanksgiving is to give thanks and spend time with friends and loved ones. You feast on an endless table of food until exhaustion, laugh and talk for hours on the sofa, and receive hugs from nameless relatives. A traditional Thanksgiving celebration like this is the opposite of what staying safe in the middle of a pandemic looks like. This is the exact reason as to why me and my family decided to spend Thanksgiving this year without going to my grandparents house or visiting relatives. Although I miss my grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles more than anything, my household lives a relatively unsafe lifestyle to be around older people who are more susceptible to the virus. For instance, I go to school in-person, my parents and brother go to work everyday, and my sister plays soccer. With those factors it would be selfish to risk my grandparents health for one night of feeling back to normal.
With a grand family feast not being an option to spend time with those I’m thankful for, my family and I decided to have more of an innovative twist to the holiday and plan on stopping by to surprise my grandparents with my grandpa’s favorite Thanksgiving dessert, Rhubarb pie. In an ideal world I wouldn’t be stopping by to stand outside in the backyard six feet apart; I would be invited in where I would set the pie on the table and then patiently wait for my always an hour late cousins to arrive. I am not going to let the fact that I’m unable to celebrate a normal Thanksgiving upset me though, because families everywhere are making adjustments to their annual plans in order to stay safe just like mine is.
Not only are families struggling right now during the holiday season, but so are local restaurants and businesses. In order to try to help out, my family decided that instead of spending hours upon hours in the kitchen for food that would only serve a few people, we would help out local restaurants by ordering Thanksgiving foods and pies to eat. It not only saves time to watch the parades, Christmas movies, and dog shows on T.V., but it is guaranteed to taste phenomenal.
Although Thanksgiving for me and most other families will not have the most ideal atmosphere this year, these uncommon circumstances will for sure be something that I will remember in the future. While all of the other traditional Thanksgivings will blend together with time, 2020 Thanksgiving will be sure to stick out.
