Appreciating Thanksgiving During the Pandemic
This year’s pause is an opportunity to appreciate the traditions we hold dear.
Before we rush to bemoan the current situation brought about by the pandemic, let’s use this year’s limited gatherings as an opportunity to appreciate the usual Thanksgiving traditions. In a typical year, I do many things on autopilot, stuffing the turkey and getting it in the oven early, arranging the football games, extending the table, carving the turkey, putting away the bedding in the living room so everyone has a seat to watch the Cowboys or take a post dinner nap. This year, I will have time to reflect and remind myself not to take anything for granted.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It’s a four-day weekend with no strings attached. There are no hymns to sing, no tree to set up, no gifts to buy. It’s just family, football, cooking, and eating and drinking.
My wife and I avoid the difficult holiday travel by hosting Thanksgiving, something we have done for about the last thirty years. It helps that we are centrally located in Manhattan and our parents were still in New York when we started. With the usual gathering ranging from a dozen to more than twenty, our turkey has been a mid-twenty pound variety, just enough for a day or two of leftovers.
This year, when my wife and I sit for dinner on our own, I will especially miss one tradition at our table when we ask the youngest generation to say what they were thankful for the past year. When the kids were young, they would easily say a few words without much thought, “Thank you for the turkey and stuffing and my parents.” As they got into their teens, they would write out short statements they would read, some poignant, some funny. In college, some learned to protest being put in the spotlight. They didn’t want strings attached. I relented. The new ask is just seventeen syllables, a haiku. We’ve had some enigmatic haikus, some that missed on form, but not on message. Even the adults got into the action. And with haikus, going around the table was quick, important when the aroma from the pumpkin bread is overpowering.
Last year, we even got one in the mail in the form of a thank you card from my nephew and his girlfriend.
THANK YOU — A HAIKU
Phenomenal hosts
Always so considerate
Lots of memories
They got it right — on the third line. We try to be good and considerate hosts, but it is about the memories, the souvenirs of the time we spend together, slowing down to reaffirm our connectedness. This year, I‘m grateful to draw upon a well of memories while looking forward to the years to come when we can share, laugh, and hug again.
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