Taking on New Adventures

In my 8 years of living in New York, I always worked Thanksgiving. It was the easiest holiday to work, to be honest, because the cost of flying home to Memphis over the holiday was just so astronomical.

I did great during my years in New York, spending most of my Thanksgiving afternoons and evenings with my friend, Heather, and other friends. Normally, I would either be off or work in the mornings and we’d have a full afternoon being thankful for our local “family” and friends.

Heather moved about 5 years into my time in New York, and I had to adjust to how things were done. Usually, I was still able to do something with a friend or two, but one year, I was completely solo.

I cannot remember what year it actually was, but I remember wondering what I should do. I wasn’t really interested in going out for a huge turkey lunch or dinner solo. Don’t get me wrong, solo dining wasn’t a big deal to me. But for the holiday? I was not interested.

So I cooked a Thanksgiving lunch for myself. It wasn’t great, as it’s hard to do Thanksgiving for one. But I got some turkey from the grocery, made a small batch of dressing, steamed some green beans and made my one and only batch of mashed potatoes.

That year, it happened to be super warm in New York, with temperatures in the mid-60s. So I was able to get out and walk a lot that day, checking out the sights from the parade and parade-goers, seeing families rush around trying to get to wherever they were going for the afternoon, and then after my feast, enjoying the relative quiet of Thanksgiving evening.

Now in 2020, the world has shifted thanks to Covid and I’m again adjusting my normal Thanksgiving expectations.

In the 6 years Chuck and I have been together, we have spent 4 of those at my family’s home. The other 2 years, we did a great lunch at one of New Orleans’ finest restaurants and enjoyed an afternoon of football and relaxing.

Because of Covid, and even more so because of hectic work schedules, we decided to stay home this year and just be together. So we ordered a meal from one of our favorite restaurants that has yet to fully open due to the pandemic, and we stocked up on some good wine ahead of the day.

I don’t know what Thanksgiving will feel like this year. But I am thankful that we have the means to support a local restaurant. I’m also thankful I have someone I love to spend the day with. And I’m thankful that although this world, and especially our country, is in turmoil, most of us are able to look to the future and see brighter days ahead.

So here’s to the 2020 version of Thanksgiving, and may we never have to worry about a pandemic again.