By Ashlyn Kinley, Staff Writer
Thanksgiving is a time full of sweet memories, fun family traditions and lots and lots of food. In my family, we celebrate with the best food – the kind that makes you feel like you gained ten pounds. Dressing, turkey, ham, cornbread and green beans are all foods that remind me the most of the Thanksgiving season. This special day I get to spend with both my mom and dad’s side of the family, aunts and uncles and both of my sweet grandmothers.
One of my favorite traditions in my own family is having football playing in the other room while all of the men in the family shout at the television. While this goes on the women sit around the dining room table and gossip. In the past couple of years, the sun has been shining on Thanksgiving day, so we all like to go out on the porch and soak in the sunshine while still wearing our big coats and sweaters.
The morning of Thanksgiving is one of my favorite feelings ever. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade plays on my TV while my family gets things together to bring over to my grandparents house. Since there are little kids in my family, we usually end up bringing chicken nuggets and craft Mac and Cheese so that they will have something to eat. My grandparents’ house is always warm with a fall-scented candle burning, and the rooms are never quiet. They are filled with catching-up conversations and lots of laughter.
Both sets of my grandparents love to decorate for fall, so there are more pumpkins than I can count around the room. On my dad’s side of the family, one of our main traditions on this day is putting up my grandmother’s Christmas tree. She stores all of her Christmas stuff in an upstairs closet, so me and the other grandchildren get tasked with bringing all of the boxes down the steps and into the living room to set up for the season. She also has a huge Santa Clause that we put in a big window at the front of her house, which she has had for more than twenty years! Setting this up for my grandmother is definitely one of my all-time favorite traditions and makes me feel closer to my family.
There are no words to describe how joyful and filling the Thanksgiving season is. I am blessed to celebrate the season with the people that I love the most and the ones that have made a very large impact on my life. It is a time for me to slow down and enjoy the people and the things around me, embrace the fall weather and make time for intentional conversations with the family members I don’t get to see as often. To say the least, it is my favorite time of the year!
