Most of my Thanksgiving usually go like this; I wake up around 9 am to do the normal family calls to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving and also to confirm what time dinner is suppose to be. After making my rounds of calls I normally then call grandma to make sure she has a ride or to tell her what time I'm going to pick her up so we can go down to Dad's place. I then make my way to my mothers place to have the first thanksgiving dinner and also catch the early Football game. It is a Miller Family Tradition that as well eat or as we wait to eat we watch whatever game is on at the time. Normally that consists of the the Sad Dallas Cowboys playing or the lowly Lions. The menu at both parents homes are usually the same. Turkey, Ham, Mac n' cheese, Stuffing, Yams, Greens, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Cranberry Sauce, and Biscuits. Of course the only time the tv is turned off is for the family blessing of the food which usually the Man of the house blesses the table then we chow down and eat. It is the same rituals at both house and after eating at both homes it time to go home to prepare for Black Friday work or just a day off.
This Thanksgiving was different and interesting. Both of which are good things. It was different because for the first time, as I am walking to the car and driving to work I'm seeing kitchen windows across my route to work lit up. Knowing that mothers, fathers, and friends are prepping their turkeys for the Thanksgiving Dinner. It was funny to see because I am normally sleep during the wee hours of turkey prep and initial cooking phases. So I am working on Thanksgiving for the first time and not going to any family dinners on the holiday. The thought of not being with my family makes me sad and really makes me appreciate the times that I have with the. Once I get off at Noon I then proceed to rush home to shower and change and attend a friends Thanksgiving. Once I arrive at my fiance friends place in Oakland I knew this was going to be very different Thanksgiving that I wasn't use to. The first thing I noticed is that there was no TV with the game. On this Thanksgiving there were three games on. A 8:3oam game, 1:15pm game and a 5:20pm game. As the more friends of the friend started to arrive for dinner it became crystal clear this was going to be nothing of what I was used to or what I wanted to get used to. No one seemed to care that there was a football game on, and guests were bringing in appetizers, all of which weren't my cup of tea. During my family thanksgiving there normally weren't appetizers to have pre dinner. Wanted to leave as much space as I could for as much Mac n' Cheese and turkey as possible. There were peas stuff with salmon, vegan cheese biscuits, and a mound of Salmon or tuna with crackers. The conversation was quite lively and everyone was entertaining. The menu consisted of Turkey stuff with pesto, Asparagus, spicy vegan sweet potato, and stuffed sage sweet potato wrapped in prosciutto, cranberry salsa, regular cranberry sauce, stuffing, a vegetable medley. I definitely felt out of place because none of those items are things that I normally wouldn't eat most of those items if I had the choice if they were on a menu. So I definitely felt out of place and like worried that I would offend my friend by not eating certain select foods because they aren't a flavor I like. For the first time there was no Thanksgiving blessing of the food and the family. That was the final sign that this was definitely going to be a different Holiday. After having dinner and dessert, which was pumpkin pie, it was time for Thanksgiving at this house to end.
My Dad had driven up to Northern California with my sister, Nephew and his wife to have Thanksgiving with her family. So once we left the friends house we then drove up to Richmond, CA to go see my dad and family for about an hour. At my grans house it was the traditional Thanksgiving dinner that I was used. So of course I had to make a plate of the classic food I'm used. It was quite amazing and I enjoyed it so much. After I ate and played with my nephew and talked with my family I left after about an hour due to the fact that the following morning I had to be to work at 3:30am. It did feel good to see my family and have some of the traditional food that I was used to. It wasn't the highlight of the evening but definitely the icing on the cake. That was my Thanksgiving in the nutshell.
I want to say that events like these are what shape us as people. Even though this wasn't my traditional dinner, and traditional events I still appreciate the fact that someone thought of me enough to not want me to spend Thanksgiving alone. Someone thought and cared enough to want to invite me into their home to spend a family holiday with them. It's those small gestures in which people forget to appreciate and need to step back and understand they do it cause they care. Understand that the Holiday isn't about you but the collective whole wanting to spend quality time with quality people.
No comments:
Post a Comment