Day 24 - 30 Days of Thanks: Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. Partly because it's about family, friends, and food without the distraction of presents (and the shopping and overspending that can go along with it), but I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the fact that I grew up in "America's Hometown" -- Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Thanksgiving is a big day in Plymouth, naturally. There's a huge communal meal at Plimoth Plantation, where you can eat like the Pilgrims did. My family always ate at home, but we did go to the ecumenical church service on Thanksgiving mornings. It was held in the oldest church in Plymouth, a beautiful old stone building in the center of town. We'd sit, huddled together in the hard pews, while people dressed as Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians processed in. We'd hear readings from the Bible, the Torah, a proclamation from the Governor of Massachusetts, and (my favorite part) The Lord's Prayer spoken in the Wampanoag language by the chief of the local Wampanoag tribe.

Afterwards, we'd go around the corner to a little coffee place and have toasted muffins with lots of butter and hot cocoa. Then, we'd head home to put the turkey in, prep the vegetables, chow down on appetizers, and finally stuff ourselves silly.

I hope I can make Thanksgiving as special for R as it was for me. We don't have any Pilgrims around, but we are making our own traditions. Today that included watching the Macy's parade and the Charlie Brown special about the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving, building a Lego jail, eating blueberry muffins for breakfast, and in a few minutes, heading to the park to play some soccer before we cart the turkey that A is smoking over to our friends' house for the big meal.

How are you celebrating Thanksgiving today?