A sad kind of Thanksgiving, we all agree.
The 2020 holiday is uncharted territory. Whatever coVID turkey day of year, it may not be like last year.
Some of us spread those we enjoy, awkwardly, among several tables in several rooms, some of us will completely forget the rules of social estating and hope to make the mistake of our lives.
And some of us, many of us, would possibly opt for the most heartbreaking option of all: no guests. Just the early family.
Think! No rush from 26 parents. Without setting the children’s table, no hysteria in the kitchen, with the discovery that there are 11 sides and nine stoves, that there is no panic about the lack of sauce for everyone, without Uncle Phil, with his crazy conspiracy theories.
You don’t have to wait for those who are late, or be ready for the first to arrive. No arrivals, period.
The saddest of them all, no gigantic cleanliness. There is no kitchen full of dirty dishes or dishwasher.
Oh, and unhappiness. Or not so much.
The COVID crisis, for many of us, will mean a nuclear Thanksgiving, just mom, dad and the kids. And it’s that bad?
“This year has been so committed to accepting and wanting to adapt to new realities,” said Rob Kluin, spokesman for Plimoth Patuxet museums in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Plymouth was, of course, the first Thanksgiving, in 1621.
They also had a difficult year. Almost a part of the pilgrims (forty-five out of 102) died that first winter.
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“What we learned, in many ways, has given us genuine food for the soul and a lot to enjoy when we arrived at the table this year for Thanksgiving,” Kluin said.
Maybe this Thanksgiving, we can thank you for not saying Thanksgiving. For a year, we can take a much-needed break.
Certainly, we will miss the wonderful exaggerated production: the hustle and bustle, the parents, the long table of moans with plates, bottles of wine, candles and floral displays. Excess is a great component of what Thanksgiving is.
But Thanksgiving is also a time to count our blessings, a time to appreciate all that we take for granted throughout the year, and this year in particular, we will have two things to thank you for: our homes and our punctual families. .
We have known them for the last six months. Too good, you say? Maybe.
But how much have we overlooked them in the afterlife, going to paint every morning as our young people crawl out of school, take weekends and holidays out of town, escape whenever we can?This year has replaced each and every one.
We might be tired of being trapped at home, but at least we can appreciate that we have a home and those of us who are lucky enough to have survived this year with our immediate circle of relatives intact can thank them.
There’s an explanation for why children can be better this Thanksgiving. November 2020 is an election year. And not just any choice, the ultimate divisive choice in our lives.
Political Grudge Array ironically, the same explanation as to why 19th century magazine editor-in-chief Sarah Josepha Hale pushed for a national Thanksgiving holiday.
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It was the time of the war Civil. La half the country did not talk to the other half. She hoped that if Uncle Roy of Georgia sat at the table with his cousin Sally from Maine, the sense of the circle of relatives would triumph over sectional differences. “From Maine to Mexico, from Plymouth Rock to Sunset Sea, the thanksgiving anthem will have to rise simultaneously, as a promise of brotherhood,” Hale wrote.
Naive, perhaps. But it’s worth a try once a year. In fact, you can eat with your Uncle Phil and he can take care of you.
But not this year. Maybe not with this election still so raw. Maybe it’s good to wait another 12 months for the mood to cool down.
This Thanksgiving, perhaps, is also to thank the things closest to you. Your house, be so humble. And those who live there.
“My own delight in recent months has encouraged me to be more grateful,” Kluin said. “To locate abundance in an easier way of life, in loved relationships, and to find what is important. “
Jim Beckerman is an entertainment and culture journalist for NorthJersey. com. For unlimited information on how you spend your free time, subscribe or activate your virtual account today.
Email: beckerman@northjersey. com
Twitter: Jimbeckerman1