Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. Not just because of all the home-cooked food that my Uncle Rad and the rest of my family makes, but because of the loving people I spend it with.
Every Thanksgiving, basically since I was in the womb, has been spent at my aunt’s house in New York City, and every Thanksgiving has the same basic routine. Usually, everyone arrives on Tuesday or Wednesday, and that’s the bonding night where we all catch up with each other. My mom and aunts gather in the master bedroom and gossip about their year, my cousins and I fool around and watch TV and my Uncle Rad normally wanders through each group and in the end is found watching football.
(Uncle Rad, most likely watching football)
Thursday is the day of excitement and the day where no one is allowed in the kitchen unless you'e making a dish. I wake up to the smell of my uncle’s amazing cooking, the banging of pots and pans and laughter. This is the sound that gives me the warmest feeling throughout Thanksgiving break because it's at this moment when I realize I am fully content.
While my uncle is cooking, everyone else is usually watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and then afterwards we watch the National Dog Show. However, my mom usually leaves because she thinks dogs shouldn’t have their own competition. We usually help out when it's needed throughout the day by running back and forth from the small shop on the end of the street.
When it hits 6 p.m., it's prime time! Dishes are being placed on the table, family members are ringing the door bell, jackets are being placed in the bedroom and you can hear the laughter erupting from down the hall.
(Thanksgiving 2014)
Everyone sits down with their plates of heaping food after our Thanksgiving prayer, and we all talk, laugh, take pictures and football is always playing in the background. Dishes are usually done hours later or the next morning (but we try to do them at night).
Friday is also a day I enjoy because I love shopping and saving money. My cousins and I usually wake up at 6 a.m. and leave the apartment around 7 or 8 in the morning, and we take on all the stores: Forever 21, H&M, DSW and Victoria Secret. We return to the apartment in the early or late afternoon depending on how successful our day was, and we take a nap until we see a movie later that night.
Saturday is a day for relaxing and hanging out with family. We mostly see each other once a year, so we always try to make sure that our quality time is well spent. (We also see another movie on Saturday at the theatre with the red leather reclining seats!)
(Last Thanksgiving, we actually worked on puzzles!)
I think what makes me most excited is that I know what to expect (most of the time). I know that when I arrive in New York City, I will be walking into an apartment filled with love and endless laughter and that is what I find most fond — the familiarity. The familiarity of the faces of my family members, the recognizable laughter right when I step out of the elevator and the fact that I can feel completely warm, secure and special really is the best part.
