THANKSGIVING 2020
Preparing For a ‘Thanksgiving State of Mind’
Three points of gratitude
This is the time of year I get misty-eyed. Now that October is in our rear-view mirror, I’ve got Thanksgiving on my mind, and with that comes memories. As a child, Thanksgiving was my absolute favorite holiday with a house full of happy noise.
I remember using a balloon to play volleyball over my parents’ bed with cousins and sibs. Grabbing orange juice ice cubes with a maraschino cherry in the middle (intended for mixed drinks) and placing pitted-olives on our fingertips was another favorite.
Decades later, my husband and I have become Thanksgiving hosts, and along the way, we’ve developed our own traditions. We typically sit 20 around the table and start by singing, “‘Tis a gift to be simple,” followed by, “We gather together.”
We take turns sharing what we are thankful for. My husband provides a kernel of knowledge about some eclectic yet interesting topic. One year we learned about Tecumseh, a celebrated Native American leader.
So now the problem: COVID and politics have made it hard for me to get into a “Thanksgiving State of Mind.” How will we “gather together” meaningfully but distanced, especially given our political divides even within families?
