Thanksgiving has always been my favorite of the big hollerdays (my favorite minor one - Patriot's Day, also known as Marathon Day in the old college haunt of Boston), and it's worth a few moments to tell all seven of you why.
As Jews, we don't do the Christmas or Easter thing, so Thanksgiving has always been the big family holiday for us. We've never had much in the way of tradition around the day, just that we try to get as many family members as possible under a single roof, which is a good enough tradition for me. The more the better. I sincerely hope we can gather more each year, both family and friends.
The best Thanksgivings for me have occurred in two places: Our house and my uncle and aunt's house back in the day.
Thanksgivings in our house, esp since we moved to the palace in Frisco a couple of years ago, are great, and I hope to have it here more often than not. It's difficult with some wrinkles in the extended family which have come up recently, and I certainly don't mind going elsewhere for Thanksgiving dinner. But I really like having a lot of family at our place. It was one of the big reasons I wanted to build this joint in the first place. Having the kids running around upstairs, and good, interesting conversation in every room, lots of wine bottles opened, TONS of food filling the kitchen, both ovens going, it's all great. I especially like it when the weather is Thanksgiving-ish - cold, even grey, never a given in Texas. It makes the house seem warmer. Love it!
The very best Thanksgivings, however, were at my uncle and aunt's huge old house in Western Massachusetts. The house was perfect for large gatherings - I have no idea how big that place was in terms of square feet, but, trust me, it was gi-normous. Getting there was a bit of a challenge, so we always stayed for the long weekend, which was part of the greatness. It was always cold, snow was a player several times, and it felt very, very American, and I mean everything good about being American. I always thought, and still think, that's what Thanksgiving ought to be. I hope we establish that sort of feeling at our house when we host the meal.
Other things I like about Thanksgiving - football (of course); lots to drink; lots of laughs; a meal I actually like to eat (NEVER happens during Jewish holiday - I hate most Jewish food); lots of activity in the house; lots of sports talk, politics talk, kid talk, guy talk; no work worries for a few days; the start of the Holiday Season (which I like even if we don't do Christmas); the change in the weather.
Thanksgiving is, nearly without fail, my favorite day of the year. I look forward to it every year, and some of my best memories are from Thanksgivings past.
I hope you and your family have a Thanksgiving to enjoy, even savor. I hope you enjoy your time with your loved ones.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
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