Maryville Pawprint Maryville Pawprint, Maryville University's Student Newspaper
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It’s that time of year again. People are dieting hardcore, people are getting ready to travel all over the country, and most people are in a pretty cheerful mood. I am talking about Thanksgiving. The night where most of us stuff our faces with turkey, gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, pumpkin pie and then find our favorite pair of sweatpants and spend the rest of the night on the couch talking about how much we ate. As a matter of fact, when I went around asking people for their Thanksgiving traditions, almost everyone gave me that exact same response.
However, there were a few people who had some family traditions before they became best friends with the couch for the night.
“My neighbors go to a movie every year right after they eat dinner, ” my colleague Kim Gebken told me.
They do the same thing as the people on the couch just not in the comfort of their own home.
My friend Dana Janssen had a sweet tradition to share, “Before we sit down for dinner at my grandma’s the whole family stands in a circle and holds hands. Every year someone different leads the prayer. It always takes a few minutes to get everyone to stop giggling and quiet down, but at the end of the prayer we all end up with tears in our eyes from talking about how thankful we are for our family.”
My Dad’s side of the family used to go around the table and say what we are thankful for, which I thought was a nice beginning to our meal because it makes us realize why we really have this holiday after all. I tie-dyed napkins for my Mom when I was in fifth grade and she still puts them out at every Thanksgiving dinner, which I think is a unique tradition because it brings back childhood memories.
Traditions vary just like each family from white tablecloths to pumpkin centerpieces, each tradition represents each family in a different way, which is the beauty of it all. The very best tradition about Thanksgiving is that no matter how each family chooses to celebrate it, every person is taking time out of their day to think about what they are thankful for.
