Thanksgiving Family Traditions

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Check out what our Thanksgiving traditions are below, and let us know in the comments what yours are.

Nikita

When it comes to Thanksgiving, my family does not follow the normal traditions. First of all, I'm Indian, and Thanksgiving isn't even a holiday in my culture. When I lived in India, we never celebrated it, because honestly, we didn't even know it existed. We celebrated our first Thanksgiving after moving to the United States in 1999. My already Americanized cousins were there, and the entire time, I couldn't help but to feel out of place. I remember thinking that Thanksgiving was merely a day where people get together and eat, but being Indian, that was an everyday occurrence for me. When I started to go to school here, I learned more about the holiday, and what it actually signifies, and that is when it mentally kicked in. Thanksgiving is all about showing appreciation and giving thanks! Who knew?!

For the last 15 years, my family has had their own tradition going steady and strong. Because most of us are vegetarians, we obviously were not going to go crazy over the usual turkey with the millions of sides. Instead, we decided that each year, we will be having food from a different cuisine. For example, one year we'd have Italian, the next year we'd have Mexican, so on and so forth. This way, we can all try out new food as a family and actually bond over it. I personally find that this tradition keeps things fun and exciting each year. I actually look forward to going home and finding out what we're going to be having.

Most of our family lives up north in the New York and New Jersey area, so we also have a special tradition when it comes to the location. We take turns each year and switch up the location of our Thanksgiving celebrations. One year, everyone will gather at my parents' place in Georgia, while the next year, we all would meet up in either New York or New Jersey. This is one of my favorite parts about Thanksgiving, because it gives me a reason to travel! Other traditions involve my mom deep cleaning the entire house, even though it's always clean (she's extremely OCD), and both of us getting into a huge argument over it. Trust me, it happens every single year. We all used to go out shopping super early on Black Friday, but that tradition has slightly changed. I am no longer part of that activity, and the same goes for my cousins. We'd rather stay in and play games, get some sleep, and make room for more food!

Katelynn

For me to say that my family has Thanksgiving traditions is quite a stretch. We have a different series of events every year. Having the whole family together? Usually but not always. Black Friday shopping? Sometimes. Immediately preparing for Christmas after? Every once in awhile. I mean we seriously cook a turkey a different way every year.

Regardless, I can talk about the things that we USUALLY try to do every year. First thing: the food. The food is the most consistent thing about our Thanksgiving. Although we have strayed, we usually have turkey, ham, stuffing, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, stuffing, seven-layer salad, and cranberry sauce. We do make a few other dishes that vary from year to year. We've made dishes likes mashed potatoes, cheesy broccoli and rice casserole, yellow squash, and creamed corn.

We also try to get our grandparents that live in the state to come to our house, and most years they come down. We've also gone to their house, but that's not our 'tradition.' Since we moved an hour and a half away from them, they usually drive down and stay for a week. This isn't my favorite thing because they take my room, so I sleep on the couch for a week. So it's now a tradition of sorts.

The one very consistent thing we have going on each year is the men in my family watching football while the women prepare food. My dad and granddad will deep fry the turkey if that's how we're preparing it, but that really just means they'll put it in and we'll remind them to check it when we think it may be ready.

That's about it for my family! We're super inconsistent every year, but we have a lot of fun doing it!

Martha

My family usually travels to Altavista, Virginia for Thanksgiving. It's fairly close to where my dad grew up and is where my grandmother now lives, so everyone on my dad's side of the family congregates there.

Altavista is about one hour north of the southern border of Virginia, approximately 35 minutes away from Lynchburg. So our Thanksgiving tradition kicks off with a 7 and a half hour road trip.

A picture of the Peachoid (lovingly referred to by my family as the big peach), a water tower located in South Carolina. It marks the halfway point for our drive, so we're always happy to see it!

Once we are finally in Altavista, we hug everyone else who came up (usually 1 grandma, 2 aunts, 2 uncles, and 4-8 cousins depending on how many come out). Then the family fun begins! The things we do every year change, but I'll talk about a few we like to do most often.

The first thing I have to mention is the Chinese buffet. We love to go to one particular Chinese buffet every time we all meet. I'm not sure why, but it's become a tradition for us.

A terrible picture of the Chinese buffet we go to (featuring my Uncle Audie)!

We are also a big board game family. A few of our favorites are Sequence, Pictionary, and Pit. We're so good at Sequence that sometimes, we fill the board as much as you can without anyone winning (see below!).

At least a few members of my family participate in the 5k Giblet Jog on Thanksgiving Day. I've only done it once because I like to sleep in (you have to be ready to run at 8 am or so). Fun fact: last Thanksgiving, my dad won first place for his age category! He's a beast!

Me getting ready to run my first official 5k!

My family also likes to go to the mall up in Lynchburg at least once. My cousin Jess and I like to go when the rest of my family is doing target practice, a few of us like to go look around on Black Friday, and we all occasionally go see a movie in the movie theater attached to the mall.

From left to right: My cousin James, myself, my cousin Taz, my sister Miya, and my cousin William all about to watch a movie!

We always go to church the day before Thanksgiving. Usually there's also a meal afterwards in the church basement, so we spend some time down there. Like I said, my dad (and all of his siblings) grew up near Altavista, so they always like to spend this time catching up with everyone they grew up with. Below are a couple of pictures of my family in church!

What we most like to do however, is just catch up with each other and do random fun things. No matter if its putting on face masks, playing flashlight tag in the dark, or sitting around in our pj's, we always have fun and really enjoy being with each other as this is one of the few times we all get together throughout the year. One of my favorite things about our family gatherings is that we almost never turn on the TV. I think this has really helped us make sure we're spending quality time together while we have the opportunity to do so.

Oh also, we always have Thanksgiving dinner, but oddly enough, it's never the main focus of our get together!

Amelia

Family traditions...when I was younger (we are talking like elementary school) my mom used to bring my sister and me up to Virginia Beach to celebrate Thanksgiving with her side of the family. As we got older, we ended up staying in Georgia and stuffing our faces with my dad's side of the family...cousins, aunts, uncles, and our Grandpaw all together. For years it was the same tradition that kept a float. Now I don't want to get all sad and stuff but in the last 6 years...things have changed a little. People passing on and cousins moving away have made it a little more difficult to do what we used to.

While this could be a sad story, I don't take it as that! Looking back makes me smile. The endless political rants from the adults. My family showing up probably always precisely 10 minutes late to dinner. Getting to laugh at my Uncle Mike's jokes til my tummy hurt. Practically yelling at my Grandpaw for him to hear anything I say, or being stuck at the "kid" table for Thanksgiving dinner..all great memories.

For us at Dynamic Damsels, we are at an age where things are changing. Changing fast, uncontrollably into our incredible lives. People seem to hate change. Why? It is the unknown, the unfamiliar. Thanksgiving tradition is just one of those things. It is the order we know. The familiar, fun-filled stuffing of the faces with turkey and dressing and pies we didn't know could taste so good.

It is time for something new. My Uncle Mike and Grandpaw have passed into a peaceful, pain-free state. My cousin Maria has moved to Missouri to be with her love and continue her life as a strong Christian and nurse. My cousin Molly, finding her soul again...quitting the job she knew she hated before it was too late...now enlisting to serve our free country. Maggie, now engaged, finishing up her nursing degree in Virginia and becoming a member of the Navy. Jacqueline, my sister, (sick with mono this year lol) pursuing something (not sure yet) at UGA. And me, about to graduate, ready to live a life so much greater than my hometown.

We are all growing into truer versions of ourselves! Following our own, unique paths in life. I could sit here and dwell on the past, but for me and my family, those days are over. It is time for something new and even better, in ways we may never imagine. Because of the love our family shares, I know things will work out for the better, we are just experiencing growing pains. :)

Happy Thanksgiving to all and don't forget to find joy in the change.