About that Thanksgiving Day...
I was trading facebook wall posts with my best friend who was getting all excited about Thanksgiving. She calls herself the black Martha Stewart, so I just usually let her have at it. But, being the contrarian that I can be, I mentioned that I was so happy to not have to deal with American Thanksgiving, indicating it was my least favorite holiday. She came right back at me, all aghast. I chuckled, because of course I was primarily going for just that reaction.
But then I got to thinking, did I really hate Thanksgiving? Shouldn't I be happy about an actual American holiday that has very little to do with selling greeting cards and much to do with counting your blessings. Once I thought about my actual Thanksgiving experience, I realized that Thanksgiving has treated me well, primarily because my friends always took such good care of me on Thanksgiving Day (and I never had to do all the cooking...).
So some Thanksgivings for which I'm very thankful:
2008 - pretty much any Thanksgiving at Julia and Chris' house, they always have a great guest list, Chris is an awesome cook, and between Julia and the critters and the general merriment in the Juliaverse (oh, and the Boo would say their awesome stash of toys), this is always a good time.
2007 - Thanksgiving on my own in NYC - Tim took the Boo to see his mom in Minnesota and I took off to NYC for time to myself and to get a tattoo from a particular tattoo artist. Vanessa and Rob were in Virginia, but let me have their awesome apartment in Brooklyn to myself. I got to spend much time with my girl, Isabelle. Nice little break from parenthood.
2005 - Thanksgiving at Christian and Shari's - Christian is another amazing cook, Shari is always welcoming, and this was where the Boo had his first solid food (or the first solid food he didn't spit back in my face) - Groppi's amazing, and amazingly rich, mushroom soup.
2004 - Thanksgiving at Julia and Chris' - this was when Tim and I first announced our pregnancy to everyone. I felt so odd doing that as I had spent my entire adult life trying to not be pregnant that when it happened unexpectedly after our wedding I was just so shocked. I kind of felt like I had gotten caught doing something I wasn't supposed to do. Everybody was so supportive that it helped Tim and I get much more comfortable with the wonderful surprise that was the Boo.
2002 - Thanksgiving at the Ranch (off the Turquoise Trail between Santa Fe and ABQ) - 11 people, 6 dogs, the high New Mexico desert in crisp late Fall, the Christmas lights getting turned on in the main plaza in Santa Fe, thank you, Julia, for inviting us...that trip is still remembered as a little slice of heaven.
2001 - Thanksgiving at Julia's old house - my dearly departed dog Dublin, hated being in the house, so stood just outside the front door and watched the rest of us eat our meal. Nobody complained about the door being open to the cold night so my sweet rescue dog with quite a few issues could be more comfortable. Love my dog-people friends.
1999 - Thanksgiving at Vanessa and Rob's place in Park Slope, Brooklyn - Vanessa and Rob are the champs at pulling off a great dinner party. I already had my ticket to leave New York, but so enjoyed this time with my good friends.
1998 - Thanksgiving in Manhattan by myself - I had only just moved in to my apartment on the Upper East Side in October, and this was a time to finally unpack the last of the boxes and get settled without having to be anywhere else. I took long walks around Manhattan on my own and so enjoyed getting to know my new city. Still one of my favorite places to just walk and walk.
1997 - Thanksgiving in Bangkok - my Thai bosses, trying to be culturally attuned, took me and my American co-worker to one of the high end hotels for a Thanksgiving buffet to end all buffets. They were a bit perturbed when my co-worker and I shunned the turkey and stuffing and headed straight for the plates upon plates of fresh sashimi and sushi.
1994 - Thanksgiving in NYC - I was living in DC, Isabelle, my roommate from Prague, was (and still is) living in NYC. I took the bus up to meet her and got more of a taste for Manhattan, a town that initially intimidated me, but I now love.
1993 - Thanksgiving in Waynesboro, VA - my new friend, Erik, took me home to his family for Thanksgiving. Erik is the middle of 5 boys and his older brothers had not settled down with their wives and families yet, so his mother seemed quite happy to have a girl in the house. I was at loose ends in Washington, DC, having just started my first job after college and was so happy to be included in somebody's celebrations. Erik, babe, I know you're busy, but I miss you!
1991 - Thanksgiving in Prague - 2 of the guys on our Study Abroad program in Prague in the Fall of 1991, somehow, some way, managed to track down 2 large turkeys (pretty challenging for Prague in 1991) and cook them all day in the funky ovens in our common kitchen at Kajetanka (even more challenging as these ovens were not familiar with the concept of steady heat.) I heard one of them had been on the phone throughout the day with his mom getting pointers (again, not easy in Prague 1991) on the meal. The rest of us got handwritten invitations asking us to show up for dinner, dress nicely, and bring wine. My photo album detailing this amazing meal and party is in Tucson, but I recently shared it with a friend from the program who passed through Tucson right before we left, so the images are fresh in my mind. We had an incredible time up high in that Kajetanka kitchen, enjoying each other, good food and lots of Moravian wine (we had more empty wine bottles after the show then we had people in attendance...). Being 21 in Prague right after the Velvet Revolution was a special time and place that no longer exists, but I am so thankful to have been a part of it.
Anyways, I could go on, but I am sure the point has been made. Thanksgiving has been exceedingly good to me because of the amazing friends I have in my life and I need to be little more mindful of how good I have it. Thank you, friends, glad you're here!
And to those who may be worried that I have given my family short shift, my mom was a trauma nurse for 40 years and often worked the Thursday of the Thanksgiving holiday (time and half, baby!). Consequently, I typically celebrated Thanksgiving with my family on the Friday, assuming I was in town. So best of both worlds. I am a lucky girl! Love you, mom!
Happy Thanksgiving!
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What an outstanding post! Much love to you and yours this year.
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