It's That Time of The Year Again: Thanksgiving

Once autumn comes around the corner, everyone knows that it’s the beginning of the holiday season. October hits and soon enough, every house is decked up in Halloween decorations. Then comes November and we all anticipate the glorious sight of the dinner table on Thanksgiving. Oh wait — Thanksgiving is this week!

It’s a time of giving, sharing, and loving. It’s a holiday that will forever be associated with food comas. It’s one of the few times a year when all of your loved ones are under the same roof. You hear the doorbell ring every ten minutes and once the door opens, you see a friendly face come in, holding a big bowl of mashed potatoes or a tray of honey and pineapple-glazed ham or a whole pumpkin pie that you’ll be eyeing the entire day. The empty space on the table slowly lessens as people bring in more food. The house gets louder and louder as more people arrive and greet each other with hugs, kisses, and laughter.

As a young child, I associated holidays with arts and crafts. Valentine’s day: paper bag mailboxes and cartoon Valentine’s day cards with candy taped to them. Fourth ofJuly: American flag stenciled with blue and red crayons on construction paper and silver star stickers to top it off. Thanksgiving: finger-painted turkeys in brown, yellow, and red. Turkeys were all I identified Thanksgiving with. Then I entered the second grade and pilgrims came into the picture. Soon my teenage years arrived and to me, Black Friday started gaining more prominence over the actual holiday. (Like most teenage girls, new clothes held a very special place in my heart, especially ones on sale and for amazing prices.)

Now, in college, Thanksgiving is an especially important occasion because it is the one time during fall quarter where I can see my family before winter vacation. It’s when I can take a small break before finals and spend time with the people I love and have missed for two months. And let’s not forget the home-cooked (even though some people bring something store-bought and try to pass it off as home-cooked, you know it’s true) food and warm-hearted tradition of everyone saying what they’re thankful for.

It’s almost that time of year again, so eat well, laugh often, and give thanks.