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What Has Been Your Most Memorable Thanksgiving?
By NATALIE PROULX NOV. 17, 2017
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CreditAndrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Do you celebrate Thanksgiving? How do you celebrate and with whom? Do you like this holiday?
In “A Thanksgiving Snapshot: Readers Share Their Holiday Stories,” Julia Simon writes:
So many of us come together to celebrate Thanksgiving, but the holiday means something different to everyone. We asked for a snapshot of your Thanksgiving — a story or a tradition or a dish that helps define your holiday, and hundreds of you responded. You shared funny stories, about the turkeys that were too big for your ovens. You shared tragic memories, about experiencing unbelievable heartache on a day that is supposed to bring people together. And you shared tales about overcoming hardship to create a memorable meal. Here are your stories; together, they help tell the story of the holiday itself.
These responses have been edited for length and clarity.
‘My mother couldn’t stand the idea of anyone eating pizza for Thanksgiving’
About 45 years ago, my mother made a last-minute run to the grocery store. There was a pizza parlor next to the store, and she watched as three Marines entered. My mother couldn’t stand the idea of anyone eating pizza for Thanksgiving dinner, so she dragged them home. She cooked enough for a small army every night anyway, so three more hearty appetites wouldn’t make a dent. These three young men spent the day with our family, played board games, watched football and shared our Thanksgiving dinner. They even helped with the dishes. I think they were the most polite people my parents ever had over. — Sandy Stinson, Santa Barbara, Calif.
‘The shelter didn’t have an oven’
I was homeless and living on New York City streets, in foster homes and homeless shelters. One Thanksgiving, I received a donated turkey — a thoughtful, generous gift, for which I was grateful. My shelter, however, didn’t have an oven where I could roast my dinner. Ultimately, I cut meat off the turkey bones, boiling it in a small pot on a hot plate — my only cooking appliance. The generosity of the donated turkey was tempered by the indignity I felt as a hungry person, scrambling to find any possible way to prepare my Thanksgiving meal. — Debra Vizzi, Hillside, N.J.
‘A possum. In the pie.’
When I arrived at my parents’ home a few hours before dinner, the pie I baked was still very warm. The refrigerator was already packed and bursting with food. It was a particularly chilly Thanksgiving that year, cold enough that I thought I’d just set the pie out on the back porch to chill until dessert time. The curtains had been drawn all evening, and when I parted them to open the sliding door and retrieve the pie I saw — to my horror — a small possum with its face buried in my perfectly cooked, beautifully seasoned pumpkin pie. I SCREAMED. It froze. My brother came rushing over (probably suspecting I’d actually dropped the pie) and witnessed the same scene. A possum. In the pie. — Sonja Groset, Lake Forest Park, Wash.
Students: Read the entire article, then tell us:
— Which of the stories was your favorite and why?
— Why do you celebrate Thanksgiving? What does the holiday mean to you?
— Give us a “snapshot” of your Thanksgiving. What has been your most memorable Thanksgiving and why?
My favorite story out of all of them is, “My mother couldn’t stand the idea of anyone eating pizza for Thanksgiving” because the mother was nice enough to help and just be polite with cooking something else than just pizza. She didn’t know if they didn’t have family to spend it with but she basically probably didn’t want them to feel alone or just as there was no need or reason to celebrate in family. Also, the mother didn’t care or even know them enough to let them in their home but she knew she wasn’t going to just let them be there and at the end she even said they were one of the nicest people she knows and they even helped up clean up.
ReplyDeleteI celebrate Thanksgiving every year because it just brings family together and everyone has a good time, sometimes you even get to see family that you haven’t seen in a long time and just get to spend the day together, catching up to everything that has been going on. What Thanksgiving means to me is that you should be thankful for everything that you had and family. It also means that you’re with all your family that you don’t usually see and you get to spend it with them and have a big dinner with them.
My favorite Thanksgiving day that i got to spend with my family was about 2 years ago, my family was going to spend it at our house but as time passed, we knew that my 2 cousins were going to spend it alone, so my family and other aunt got together to figure out what we were going to cook and take so we can go spend it with them, as time got closer, family friends also wanted to just spend it with us so we all ended up going to my cousins house. It was my favorite one because we didn’t leave them out and didn’t want them to feel lonely and at the end of the night, they were happy we all got together and spent it with them. Everyone was happy and everyone had a great time.
My favorite article was the one when the mother fed the marines dinner. My father was a marine and he doesn't really have a family. So this article had a special feeling for me. My Dad lives in North CArolina and doesn't have anyone. When i heard she fed the three marines dinner i thought that was really cool, not only did she feed them but they hung out with their family and actually acted like part of the family.
ReplyDeleteI do celebrate thanksgiving. It's a time when i actually see my family. My family doesnt get together often but when they do i always have a great time. You get to hear all the gossip and the brothers and sisters fighting. This thanksgiving wasn't that big but it was still good my grandparents came and it was calm.
My favorite thanksgiving was last year. My aunt went to California for Thanksgiving. It was my uncle, my cousin, his friend, and I. Even tho there was only four people we still had a great time. We all worked together to help make dinner and desserts
The best part was there wasn't so much to clean and we had leftovers for days. Everything was nice and relaxing we didn't have to worry about anyone coming and not getting along. I think this time was also most special to me because even tho it was only four of us it felt like a family dinner. We made jokes and cooked together. Even my cousins friend felt like home. He told us his family didn't want him home for dinner so we invited him to our home. I hope everyone had a great time and can share their experiences also.
DeleteI agree that nobody should be alone on the holidays. Its great that it can be just the 4 of you and you can still have a great time. It was also really nice of you to let your cousin’s friend over for dinner.
My favorite story was the one about the possum eating the pie. It reminds me of a memory when something went wrong with a pie. My aunt put salt instead of sugar in the lemon meringue. Also it can be used for a good laugh in the future. I celebrate thanksgiving because I just always have. It’s a good way to bring family together. You can also see the family you haven’t seen in forever. What this holiday means to me is to be thankful for what and who you have. My favorite thanksgiving was years ago when everyone from the family would come. Except now everyone is older and starting their own families and celebrating the holidays with their families now.
ReplyDeleteI think your response was very good. You were right about the possum in the pie being funny. I think it's great that you spend time with your family because not many people do anymore. I also think that it is cool that you have family that's older than you and already starting family of thier own.
DeleteMy favorite story has to be the story with the mom inviting the Marines over to their house on Thanksgiving Day. I like the story so much because it showed that there are still people willing to help military personnel. I also think that people should always be willing to help everyone else. 1 year after Sandy my aunt invited six members of the repair team from Alabama to our house for Thanksgiving because they help prepare her house. They were extremely grateful and they even brought a dish. They also helped clean up the dishes.
ReplyDeleteI celebrate Thanksgiving because it is a time to spend with family and friends. I also celebrate Thanksgiving because it gives you time to reflect on everybody who has helped you and everybody you have helped. To me Thanksgiving means giving thanks for everything that's happened to you or for you in the past year. It is also for helping other people especially people in need. This year my entire family donated three turkeys. One to St Barnabas Church. One to the homeless shelter. And one to the first aid center.
Every year my mom, my dad, my brother, my sister, and I go to my grandma's house on my dad's side first. We have dinner there at 1 and then we have dessert there as well. Then we just stay there too converse and celebrate with each other. Sometimes we even play games. This year was a very unique Thanksgiving because it was the first time that my grandma actually let me help cook. After we eat dinner there, we we meet up with my other grandma at her house and ride over to my great aunt's house together. There, we choose secret santa names in our entire family. My cousin usually makes 14 pies. She does so much half of them are not even eaten. After we all chat for a while they send all the little kids upstairs and then they send me to go and put them to bed. After they are all asleep I go back downstairs and I become the bartender. After that, we stay for a while more and then go home. We go on Amazon and do our Christmas wish lists. My most memorable Thanksgiving was last year when I beat my brother in the family football tournament.
i agree with you. i feel as if the military is losing respect and people forget what they have actually done for us. That showed that people actually care still.
DeleteMy favorite article would be “The shelter didn’t have an oven” because she was grateful to get a turkey. However she didn’t have an oven she still manage to eat that turkey in a different way. She was happy with what they gave her, she was not saying like ‘oh that is all i’m getting’. The purpose of thanksgiving is giving back to people and to be grateful in this short article we see how someone can do nice to things to people they do not know. The reason I celebrate thanksgiving is to spend time with my family where we all can sit together at the table. Since we all are busy and don’t live close to each other we don’t have time to spend with each other. Thanksgiving is a moment where we can all sit, eat, and catch up on things. It is a moment to have family time and not worry about the other things around us. Everyone needs to spend time with their love ones even if it is not your family and also give to others that need it the most. I think the most memorable thanksgiving would be the 3 years ago when some of my aunts and uncles from both side of the family came to my house house to eat all together. It is great to see the whole family get together. We all do a part so we can all finish faster to eat. Mostly seeing everyone coming together and having a great time is nice to see because it is rare seeing all of us together. Many are working or live far so for one day to come together doesn’t hurt anybody. Just spending it with my family is amazing because no matter what they are always with you. The moments spend together are also special to everyone and the effort put it in to see each other is great too. Everyone brings or cooks different dishes that there is so much food to eat is good. This is the most memorable moment every year for me to spend it with my loves one for one day to eat together.
ReplyDelete