Thanksgiving is truly one of my favorite holidays, I love a good excuse to eat an insane amount of food and be surrounded by people I care about. The holiday in general makes me feel thankful for the relationships I have. I don’t have a ton of family here so Thanksgiving is usually celebrated with my parents,sister, and friends.
An article that I connected with the most was the 2018 post, “The First Thanksgiving” by Julia Moskin. The popular holiday, to many, has traditional aspects, which include specific dishes. I have a Hispanic background, and my parents are typically the ones in charge of the food, meaning that they choose meals that are appealing to us. I never really thought about how what we eat for dinner could be completely different to what others consume. We typically have ham, pork, turkey, steak, with a side of rice, beans, salad, and probably arepa. Last year, my mom’s sister came to New York for the holiday, she brought her kids with her. During the meal we noticed that her kids weren’t eating the food, instead they asked my mom for macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, and pie. Similar to Julia Moskin’s story, my parents were confused by what my cousins were asking, since we don’t typically eat those dishes for a special holiday. How we spend the holiday could seem different to those who follow certain traditions. This year to make my cousins feel welcome, my parents ordered the dishes they’re used to having.
As mentioned, Thanksgiving is a time where I spend time with the people who represent family to me. To others, the holiday could mean spending time with uncles, aunts, grandparents because they’re all family. To me, it means embracing with those who may not be related by blood but I care for more than actual relatives. I would like to keep the Hispanic effect we have on Thanksgiving and the custom to spend with loved ones, regardless of our relation.
This is really well said and I can relate as well finding different types of hosueholds eating different dishes, interesting. It’s intriguing to the point I’m enlightened by how different each family true is based on their plates of food. It really goes to show that as simple as a plate food could serve a family’s background.
I agree with you that family is the common theme-it all comes down to our relatives and the people surrounding us daily that impact us by any means possible.
I agree with you, thankgiving is a day we spend with those we love the most even if they are not family. We can have more connection with friends than some people in our families and that’s totally valid.