Thanksgiving Tradition

Seems almost everyone has a Thanksgiving tradition. Most of the people I know gather with family for this holiday, but not us. No, we have the tradition of saving Thanksgiving for friends. Every other holiday goes to family. This is the one we save for celebrating our "other" family - our best friends.

It all started in college, when the very short weekend was too expensive for most people to fly home to see their families. So we started Thanksgiving for friends. And then when my parents split up, I no longer wanted to spend Thanksgiving at home, because it meant trying to balance two separate Thanksgiving dinners on the same day. I flew to Paris for one Thanksgiving, then I drove cross-country for the next one. Once we (Franny, Dave, and I) moved to Oregon, we started planning all our Thanksgivings together. That first year, we actually flew to Tucson to visit friends from college. Others flew from around the country too. It was one of the most memorable holidays of my life. The following year, the whole gang congregated in Portland. Nearly all of my Thanksgiving holidays have involved Franny and Dave since then (except last year, when I was stuck in Corvallis waiting on a doula client who was late).

This year was no different. We loaded up the car with both kids, an emergency change of clothes, and some prepared dishes for the feast, and we drove north to Portland yesterday. It had a pretty different feeling with toddlers running around, but it was wonderful just the same. We laughed about how much we used to drink at Thanksgiving, and how each year seems to involve less and less imbibing. I think I downed about 3/4 of a beer before I started feeling sluggish and tired, so I set it aside. I got to see my buddy Lisa, whom I haven't seen in probably a year and a half. And I got to see Dave's parents, which was a blast. Yep, it was a great time. And I only checked my phone about 20 times (waiting on another doula client to go into labor, though thankfully this time she's in Portland so I was able to come to the feast).

Next year we've reserved Thanksgiving in Corvallis. We've never hosted in Corvallis before, but I think the time is right. With some luck, I'll either be enormously pregnant, or holding a newborn too. Now only if we could expand our house just a bit...

Oh, and our contributions to this year's feast: cheesey risotto with sun-dried tomatoes, organic herbed stuffing, and fudge. The whole meal was delicious!