- Photos taken at Gorky’s (my lovely and amazing grandmother) on my last Thanksgiving in US, November 21, 2006.
At the time I didn’t know these photos were preserving the last relics of our family tradition as I grew up knowing it. Now all members of the kids’ table are grown up, some with their own kids, and some of us live very very far away (namely, me.) And so, in the past three years, the traditions have changed. No more gathering at Gorky’s early to munch on veggies and Fritos and her deliciously spicy blue cheese dip. No more fitting in amongst a clambering collection of rowdy boy cousins and being shooed out of the kitchen by all the women. No more playing around with the tiny plastic turkeys on the table during dinner and goofing around in our kids’ table world.
Today in school I did my little cultural lesson on Thanksgiving, paraphrasing the holiday’s sugar-coated origins, and mostly talking about its contemporary cultural significance. I talked about canned food drives and the Macy’s Day Parade in New York (after all, who doesn’t love those fantastic giant balloons?) and of course all the details of the meal traditions – essentially how deeply engrained these traditional dishes are across America. Turkey is the star, sweet potatoes are topped with marshmallows, and pumpkin is puréed, spiced, sweetened and pied. (A student asked me how one says “beurk” in English after my explanation of pumpkin pie…) and how for the rest of the year, most Americans don’t really touch these foods. All in all, relating this custom to my French little ones today made me quite nostalgic. More than any of my past years abroad for this holiday I’m harkening back to my memories of Thanksgiving with family when I was a kid and getting all starry-eyed. I honestly teared up a tiny bit explaining to them that my mom and I’s morning Thanksgiving ritual was to watch the parade and eat breakfast on the couch in our pyjamas.
Now, I’m off to cook a rather untraditional Thanksgiving meal for me and my love – but all in the spirit of Thanksgivings passed. If this blog were a toast, I’d dedicate it to all my family back in Ohio, my friends near and far: you are loved and missed in France!
[...] one of the moments in the year when I do feel homesick a bit and very nostalgic, remembering my family traditions on this holiday. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday – the focus just on food, friends and family without as [...]