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Martin Kohout's avatar

Thanks for this, Sabrina. I think Thanksgiving might be my favorite holiday of all, both for the food (I love all the traditional elements of the Turkey Day feast: the turkey itself, the dressing, my homemade cranberry-orange-apricot chutney, the mashed potatoes, the sweet potatoes, and especially the pies) and for the fellowship and generosity (when I was in college, I could never afford to fly the three thousand miles home for the holiday - I came home for Christmas break and for the summer, and that was all - but I had four of the most wonderful and memorable Thanksgivings of my life thanks to various people who welcomed me to their homes and tables). This year, Sonya tested positive for Covid upon our return from Italy (I’ve tested negative twice so far), which forced us to cancel our plans to spend the day in Oakland with her BFF Donna, Donna’s partner Richard, and their elderly parents. Instead, we’re going to have a quiet Thanksgiving, just the two of us at her house. It will be lovely, but it will feel a little strange not to be sharing the feast with others. Nonetheless, and despite whatever sorrows or frustrations we may be experiencing, we know we still have so much more for which to be thankful. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

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Andrea Eschen's avatar

This tribute to Thanksgiving resonated deeply with me. I know exactly how you feel about missing and wanting it but having no big pushes from family and friends to celebrate in a place where that Thursday is just another day. As I learned the hard way, we need to celebrate - not so much for the food but as a way to take the time to count our zillions of blessings and things we have to be thankful for.

Since we didn't celebrate on Thanksgiving day, and I learned the error of my ways, we're celebrating this afternoon before going off to a concert of Christmas music. We're having stuffed butternut squash, sauteed wild mushrooms with garlic, and Brussel sprouts. Fabio has finally learned to like them so I'm taking advantage of that. After we walk home from the concert, we'll top it off with pumpkin pie, that for some reason, already has several slices missing.

We broke the no Christmas decorations before Thanksgiving rule because Fabio leaves for Colombia on December 5. We won't come back from our family Christmas until the end of December. We had to break the rule to have Christmas cheer here, another painful lesson I learned about the importance of Christmas cheer here even though we'll be away the week of Christmas.

All these adjustments and mind changes due to living abroad. Glad we can still be flexible and celebrate the meaning of day and season even if a bit out of synch.

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