The Tables of Thanksgiving
Designing dinner
Thanksgiving is in two days. It’s a holiday I found boring as a kid because in our family it was largely about food and football. It was not super high on my list of fave holidays because I was not a football fan, there were no gifts, and the only food served that I really liked were mashed potatoes. I did, however, have fun hanging out with my cousins and I especially liked the kids’ table at my Aunt Pat’s, where we would sit on the floor around a large round coffee table.
Acknowledging that the Thanksgiving holiday origin story is very fraught, my family and I have always cherished this special Thursday in November. It’s a holiday that Dan and I spend with his sons, my stepsons, so it has a particularly special meaning for our family. Like many families, we go around the table and express what we are particularly grateful for in the past year.
Having graduated from the coffee table, I love making our tables special, a tradition I picked up from my mom. I haven’t yet set the table for 2024, but here is the evolution of our Thanksgiving table over the years, from more subdued, to “maximalist” as my friend Kim noted last year.
To all who choose to celebrate Thanksgiving, we wish you a very happy holiday.
"Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." — Melody Beattie
"The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude." — Friedrich Nietzsche