In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I have decided to portray a typical Thanksgiving meal in my family.
Lunch starts promptly at 1, which means Tim and Karen arrive at about noon, followed shortly by Nana, ice in tow. Everyone else is there by 12:30 with their contribution to the meal. Of course, Mike shows up late with the rolls, and we have to wait to heat them up before we can begin. Fiiiiinally everything is piping hot and ready to be devoured. Every single person’s mouth is watering and no one can wait another second to start diggin’ in. But wait, we haven’t said grace yet. Everyone bows their heads and waits for me to speak. I give a beautiful and eloquent (this may not be true, but it’s MY story, so I can say whatever I want!) thanks to our Father for all He has given us, and in unison everyone says “Amen!”
Let the feasting begin! Tim and Karen are at the front of the line, filling up their plates with delicious goodness. Grandma, Grandpa, and Nana are right behind them. Of course we all had to practically push them to the front of the line. You’d think that they would just accept the fact that we’re going to make them go first after the same repeated performance year after year; but you know them, just as stubborn as every single one of their children and grandchildren. After the first five people, everyone else is fair game. Of course, we should let the aunts and uncles go first, but somehow us cousins always end up near the front of the line. I don’t know how it happens, it’s just does; year after year.
Now, let me paint you a picture of the spread. We have turkey, ham, party potatoes, cream cheese corn, green beans with bacon, stuffing, rolls, mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry sauce that nobody eats, sweet potatoes, Spinach salad, and I’m sure the list goes on. Then for dessert there are at least 5 of these different options: pumpkin pie, apple pie, pumpkin rolls, pecan pie, chocolate mousse pie, sugar-free strawberry pie, cookies, brownies, key-lime pie, pretzel salad, cheesecake, and whatever other culinary confection you can think of.
So now everyone has their plates heaping with delicious Thanksgiving food. You’d think that the noise level would be at a minimum because everyone is piling food in their mouths, but that’s just not the case. Somehow everyone manages to eat and talk at the same time. And not just talk, but yell. No matter what table you’re at you can hear Mike’s story or any one of the Hanna cackles bellowing through the house. Some people might think that this is entirely too much noise for a family gathering, but not me. Nope, that noise is like music to my ears. It doesn’t matter if I can’t get in a word edge wise, I could listen to the sound of my family together for hours on end. There’s something melodic about the mixture of cackles, utensils clattering, talking over one another, and the general happiness floating through the air. Yes, I would give anything to be able to hear that sound.
Once everyone has finished with seconds, thirds, and fourths, clean-up begins. I don’t know how we do it, but us cousins never end up helping with the clean-up. We simply take our plates to the kitchen, throw ‘em in the sink, and retreat to the backroom where we watch Youtube videos and try to keep Bentley out when they’re inappropriate for children’s ears. So while we’re all glued to the computer, my mom and her sisters are busy in the kitchen, cleaning up and preparing for the next course. Once they’ve finished slaving away, everyone finds their way back to the kitchen just in time for dessert. By this point everyone is miserably full, but you know what they say; there’s always room for dessert! So we plunge past the pain and put even more delicious food in our bodies. You’ll hear these words coming from any given mouth, “I’m so full. But it’s soooo good. Hey, pass me another slice of that pie!”
After we’ve all successfully made ourselves sick, things start to quiet down a bit. You’ll find Mike laying down anywhere he can get horizontal, the guys watching the game in the backroom, and the women gossiping in the kitchen or the living room. A few people might head upstairs to take a much-needed nap. That leaves me, wandering from room to room. I’ll watch TV with the boys for a while, but since I don’t care much for football I never last long in there. Then I’ll head to the dining room to hang out with the grandparents for a little bit. After a short time here, I’ll find my way to the living room with all the aunts. I never really know who or what they’re talking about, but I sit and listen anyway. Then I start the whole process over again. I could spend all day, just walking from room to room, listening to the people in my family enjoy being together.
Now is the time when people slowly start dispersing, heading to other family Thanksgivings for another meal, or heading home to unwind from the day. By this point I’m incredibly tired and ready for a nap, but I love having everyone together; hence why this is always bittersweet for me. I don’t want anyone to go home, but I can hardly keep my eyes open. But, this part of the day is inevitable, so everyone starts hugging one another and we all end up in our respective homes.
When I think about a typical Thanksgiving meal in my family, I can’t help but feel incredibly blessed. Blessed because we have the opportunity and the means to share an incredibly delicious meal; blessed because we are all able to be together; blessed because my family is so close and loving. This may sound cliché, but I really think I am the luckiest girl on the planet. My family is so comfortable together that we can talk about anything. We genuinely enjoy spending time together. We love each other. We all have a roof over our heads and food on our plates. We have everything we could ever want.
Being in Perú, away from my family on my favorite holiday, is incredibly difficult. I would give anything to be able to be a part of the madness that I know will ensue. I would give my left pinky toe to be able to hug all of my cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents, parents, and brothers. As I’m eating rice and chicken, I will pretend that it is cream cheese corn and mashed potatoes. I want nothing more than to spend this day with the people that mean the world to me.
Although I hate missing this holiday and not being with my family, I realize how incredibly lucky I am to be doing what I’m doing. I’m in PERU! I’m learning a new language. I’m meeting new people; experiencing a new culture. I’m doing something that less than 1% of the US population has the opportunity to do. So although this holiday, and every other holiday, is going to be hard for me, I must remember that I have a LOT to be thankful for.
“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
--Thornton Wilder
--Thornton Wilder
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