Much ado about Thanksgiving.

My favorite Thanksgiving memory was from when I was younger. Living in Ohio I believe. Both sets of grandparents were there! Nothing was better than coming downstairs (in the middle of the school week!) in pajamas at 10:30AM to the smell of a turkey in the oven, and pies being made. It was great. Especially when both of my grandmothers would take turns fussing over something or other. Usually me or my brother. We were underfoot no matter how much we wanted to help- but it didn't matter too much. The whole day would go by in blur of a colorful float filled parade and overcast sky coziness; Complimented by the chatter of a football game on (even if nobody was really watching it). When all was said and done, and the table was beautifully set, complete with small dishes of canned black olives (set just far enough from me so I couldn't put them on my fingers) and tiny gherkin pickles- my father would bring out his contribution. A flawlessly carved turkey. And then came the jewel toned cranberry sauce and green bean casserole...

Now I look back at those memories, and no matter how happy they once made me- I get kind of upset now. It's been over 8 years since I've had my mothers Thanksgiving cooking, and eaten a turkey expertly carved by my father. Eight years since I've gotten to wake up to any home cooked smells that would result in an idyllic meal with my nuclear family. Of course it's nice to go to my in-laws, they're wonderful hosts, and serve delicious food. No complaints here-And when you're grown, and not living at home it's totally different from when you were 7 years old. But its painfully not the same. And while I've become a great advocate for welcoming change and new things in your life as a way to grow in truly profound ways- there is still the pain in growth that I suppose is happening these past few years. I'm really working hard to remember that it's important to come out of your comfort zone. However as a result of this growth and leaving my comfort zone, my new growth revealed that I hate Thanksgiving.

Yeah. You read that right. Thanksgiving is rarely a time when people really give thanks. Anyone who has had a Thanksgiving meal with me knows that before I ever touch a morsel of food- I ask that we go around the table to share what everyone is thankful for. It's too important for me to go through the meal and not at least do that.

More often than not, I see people in supermarkets getting pissed that they are waiting more than 2 minutes in a line (in reality there are people who wait all day long for half a loaf of stale bread for a family of 5 or 6, and are half starved, suffering from malnutrition...and those are the lucky ones). I hear them with their snide ' Well this is ridiculous' and 'There should be more people on the registers' comments. Such selfish idiots. Waiting in line for two hundred dollars worth of food is NOT a place to complain. I hope that these people can one day gain true perspective and can really be thankful for the OVER abundance that they have. Also, really- I miss my family. I miss the holidays being so easy to participate in. One year my parents the next year Matts. Now I never see my family on the holidays.This time of year really bums me out.

To top it all off, being the only vegetarian/vegan at the meal you are attending makes you look like a high maintenance freak. And it's apparently un-PC to enlighten those around you to the atrocities that accompany their turkey and dairy covered foods.

So I've decided to create new traditions. Out with the old and in with the new! Sitting around and stewing in a pile of my own boo-hoo pity is not my style.

One of my new traditions is going to be to work at a soup kitchen on the morning of Thanksgiving, or hopefully a few times this holiday week, because I simply can not sit at a table to watch people gorge on food and not step aside and do something for the greater good. There are just so many people out there who are hungry, and have very little to be thankful for aside from the air that they breathe, the health that they have and the clothes on their back. If that. So I am making that my new Thanksgiving tradition until I can maybe grow enough to get over my loss of formerly seen-as-perfect-but-was-actually-far- from-it family. Even then it's something to incorporate into my life. And not just because the calender seems to dictate that it's a time of the year where soup kitchens need help.

The other tradition that I want to pick up is volunteer work at the Woodstock Farm Sanctuary. This organization is so wonderful- and is a great place to get hands on with some beautiful animals. The love and appreciation that you feel from them really resonates with you for a while. Totally worth the 3 hour trek.
This would also tie in with my sponsoring a turkey and or other beautiful animal that needs it.

By creating these new traditions, I'm hoping to replace the sadness that I have regarding this time of year with true appreciation and a sense of service to the world around me.

So maybe I won't hate Thanksgiving next year.


Maybe.