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Thanksgiving Tradition
Thanksgiving is about more than just football and feeding frenzies. It's a time for people to come together and be appreciative for their families and friends and what they possess. This true meaning of Thanksgiving often gets lost in the chaos surrounding the preparation of a perfect meal.
My family and my aunt’s family came from Odessa, a city located in Ukraine. My aunt’s family moved to the United States 8 years ago and my family moved here 5 years ago. We never celebrated Thanksgiving in Ukraine because there was no such holiday. Since the day we moved to America we have celebrated this wonderful holiday for having the opportunity to start a better life in this wonderful country like the pilgrims had. We have tried making our Thanksgiving better year after year.
Every year on Thanksgiving Day at around 4:00 PM my family visits my cousin, Serge, to spend the Thanksgiving evening at his mansion with our relatives and our closest friends.
Decorating is one of the least exciting things about Thanksgiving Day at Serge’s. The “children” have to pitch in and decorate an assigned room in the house while the grown-ups have a “sophisticated” conversation. Pumpkins, gourds and cornstalks are essential decorations for Thanksgiving. Winter squashes are also added. Then the whole family fills a cornucopia with our favorite fruits and vegetables. After creating this most beautiful natural piece of artwork, we praise ourselves for the group effort. The adults divide the decorating among family members so everyone can help and participate.
Then the girls fill a basket with dried flowers and set it by the front door. This creates a warm, inviting feeling for our guests.
Serge’s wife, Irena draws an artistic cardboard turkey. She uses a large piece of brown poster board to draw a turkey excluding the tail – it ends up looking like we hired an artist. Then we trace each family member's hand on different colored paper - orange, yellow, red - to make "tail feathers" and attach the turkey to a wall and add his tail. This family project is very exciting.
Once we finish decorating the place, the adults usually set the tables and make last the preparations for the guests while I, my brother, and my cousins walk around chatting, exchanging jokes, or playing video games.
My mom, aunt, and Irena prepare appetizers, gravy, bread, side dishes, salads, stuffing, the turkey, cakes, the pumpkin pie, and the pudding. They prepare foods that most people eat on Thanksgiving. They typically have a load on their hands, but they always end up making an incredible feast.
Once the guests arrive, we greet them and I show them to the dining room. As soon as everyone arrives, we sit down and enjoy the feast. Thereafter, toasts are said and blessings are given. Everyone has a great meal and we all begin chatting. I, my brother, my cousins, and my friends ease-drop on the adults’ conversation and get the funniest gossip. The best part of the meal is dessert. I love the pumpkin pie, the pudding, and the cakes.
Following the end of our meal, we play games that everybody can participate in. We make up teams and use the letters from the words "Happy Thanksgiving" to see how many words each team comes up with - the winning team gets to take home extra leftovers!
We also play "alphabet thanks." Each person takes a turn to name something they are thankful for in alphabetical order, and remember what everyone before them said they were thankful for.
The children play little kid games and some adults join them. Irena prints out dozens of pictures of turkeys. Then she hides them around the house and declares a turkey hunt. The one who finds the most turkeys gets an extra piece of pie in their doggy bag.
Serge thought of these games 4 years ago because none of us knew how to end the night. He wanted us all to go home pleased after this wonderful feast, and he makes sure everyone comes home a winner.
At the end it’s a night to remember. We all enjoy a wonderful time with the people we care about.
Thanksgiving Recipes
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