Thanksgiving is going to look a little different this year, isn’t it? I know, that can be unsettling. I remember the first one after our mother died. Thanksgiving was always her favorite holiday, and we tried to do it just like she used to. And you know what? It just didn’t work. In fact, it just made us miss her more.
As the years have passed, though, we’ve created new traditions, ones that suit us at that
moment in time. For instance, our niece Caitlin and her boyfriend Adam are a vegetarians, and now we do “stuffin’ muffins” (stuffing not cooked in the bird, but in muffin tins and made with veggie broth). These are great, especially if you like the crispy bits. Jimbo, my sister Irene’s husband, got a meat smoker and we tried smoking the turkey one year. Wicked tasty, too, but I missed the smell of turkey cooking inside the house. We stopped making our mom’s Jell-O mold salad which none of us really cared for to begin with. We’d just been making out of loyalty to her. And truth be told, no one misses it. We experiment with different ways to cook veggies and try new desserts, just to mix it up.
Sure, some things work and some don’t. (Can’t say the “No-Cook Brussels Sprout Slaw with Pomegranate Seeds” was a big hit with Charlie, but it gave us something to laugh about after.) It’s nice to keep things fresh and interesting. I’m not saying you have to change up everything, though. Aim for a balance of the tried-and-true and some of the what-the-heck-I’ll-give-it-a-try, and see what happens.
And look, I know it’s hard going into the holidays during a coronavirus spike. Same as you, we’re all sick and tired of it. But I urge you to play it safe in the short term so next year at this time we’ll all be gathered ‘round the table together. No empty chairs. The coronavirus has given us a unique opportunity to rethink Thanksgiving and focus on what the holiday is really all about: gratitude and building memories.
Change things up! Have fun with it. Do a zoom cooking party before the holiday. Or if everyone can swing it, sit down and eat together at the same time via Zoom or Skype. Make
that one special dish you do every year and deliver it to those folks nearby that you usually spend the holiday with. Plan to do things outside with your family. Meet up and take a walk together. Buy some bulbs and plant them at your house or maybe do a bulb planting party! Have your extended family or friends buy bulbs and then go from house to house and plant them together. Come spring, your gardens will be filled with color and you’ll remember this time wasn’t all bad.
My wish for you this holiday is to stop thinking about what you won’t be doing and focus on building new traditions, connecting in different ways. We’re living through a crazy time right now, but we have so much to be grateful for.
So the next time someone asks, “What are you doing for Thanksgiving?,” I encourage you to say, “Something new!”
That’s it for now. Stay safe, and catch you on the flip side!
Hear Ida Tell It: Rethinking Thanksgiving
Tickets On Sale Now!
December 20: A Very Ida Christmas!, The Music Hall Historic Theater, 2:00pm, Portsmouth, NH