What makes American Thanksgiving special?

For my first two years at STU, I celebrated American Thanksgiving without my family.

In my first year, I wanted to keep my old family traditions alive. I spent the day in my Charlie Brown Thanksgiving boxers, watching the Macy’s Day Parade, and skyping with my family over their dinner table.

Later that week, mom, dad, and my younger sister came up with a whole Thanksgiving dinner for my roommate, a few other Americans I had come to know and I. That meal had everything I remembered my Thanksgiving dinners from the past to include: turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, rolls, green beans, stuffing, cranberry sauce, cookies and cheese cake. It was a real treat to have them come up and celebrate with me.

For my family and for most of the United States, American Thanksgiving is one of the biggest family orientated holidays. With the help of my mom I will be surprising my whole family by coming home for Thanksgiving this year. I am looking forward to the two dinners with both my mom and my dad’s side of the family.

My first year in Canada I celebrated two Thanksgivings in a year. My roommate, Jessica Bouchard, brought me home with her to celebrate with her family. It was a great dinner but it just did not have the same feeling as the Thanksgivings I knew. The official holiday was on a Monday which I found to be very strange. There was no big shopping day the day after. And there wasn’t a long vacation from school.

In my second year, the cafeteria made a Thanksgiving dinner on the fourth Thursday of November: the day that Thanksgiving always falls on in the states. I spent the morning the same as I did the year before, but the afternoon was much better. I ate a pretty good Thanksgiving dinner with some new and old friends (even though the dinner was not as good as my mom’s, it still was good).

This year will be a great Thanksgiving for me. I’ll be spending it at home with my whole family, some of which I have not seen in a long time. Thanksgiving is the holiday that brings my entire family together. It is larger than any holiday of the year and that is why I look forward to it. It will be great to share memories of Thanksgivings past with my one big happy family.