I don’t feel like there’s any sort of symbolism for me. It’s just a day for families to gather and enjoy their company. Depending on the family, that may be a fun way to catch up, or a torturous affair.
When I was a kid, our tradition was to go visit one of our close family friends for the day. They had four kids (one biological child, three adopted siblings from South Korea) so it was a larger family to hang out with.
Both of my parents moved to a different state from where they were born, met each other, and married, so we don’t have any extended family within 200 miles of us. The father of our family friends was my dad’s college roommate, who also moved far from home and settled in the same town as my dad, so they also didn’t have nearby family to visit with.
We’d spend all day hanging out at their house while the adults cooked food, then have a great feast in the afternoon. Then spend the rest of the evening sitting in the living room with full bellies and conversing. It was a nice time, but I was a kid with undiagnosed ADHD, so sitting still was extremely stressful for me and I usually got a pass to go play, after spending at least a little time visiting with people.
As soon as I turned 18, I joined the US military and moved out. For the next 20 years, I was stationed all over the globe, never anywhere near family, so Thanksgiving was just another day to me.
When I married, my wife suggested starting our own tradition. We’d buy two Cornish hens and cook them for ourselves, with a few sides. Cornish hens look just like chickens, but very tiny, so we could each have one to ourselves. Plenty of food for a couple with no kids.
When I retired from the military, I moved back home to take care of my dad, who was suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. Now that I’m closer to my family, they insist on dragging me out to Thanksgiving every year.
When my dad was still alive, he was invited to tag along with my sister while her family had Thanksgiving with her local in-laws. Since I was also living at home, I was also given an invite.
But since my dad passed away almost 2 years ago, I’m no longer invited to Thanksgiving. Instead, my sister has a “Thanksgiving leftover party” for my wife and I, the day after Thanksgiving. We go over to her house and eat whatever leftovers they took home from their in-laws.
My sister’s in-laws are extremely conservative, religious types. The patriarch of their family was a pastor, so my sister literally married a pastor’s son.
I am an atheist. I don’t go around discussing religion with anyone who doesn’t specifically ask for a conversation about it, and I’ve never attacked anyone about their religious beliefs or tried to convince them of anything. Heck, I understand that most people need something to believe in, so if religion is what they need in their life, then by all means, accept Jesus into your life.
But my sister only heard the word “atheist” and freaked out, so the first time I met her in-laws, I got a lecture beforehand about not discussing religion with anyone. And I believe she “warned” her in-laws about me too, because I got the cold shoulder all night.
Ever since then, her in-laws hardly even glance in my direction. I’m lucky if I get a simple “hello” when I run into them. So it’s not a surprise that when my dad passed away, I stopped getting invited to Thanksgiving with my sister’s family.
Which is fine with me. Again, the holiday holds no special symbolism or meaning to me. It’s just a day to spend time with family and I get to do that on the day after Thanksgiving with my sister, the only family I have left in my local area.
So yeah, long story short, Thanksgiving is just an excuse to hang out with family to me, and as long as I get to do that at some point, I don’t really care about the specific holiday.
I don’t feel like there’s any sort of symbolism for me. It’s just a day for families to gather and enjoy their company. Depending on the family, that may be a fun way to catch up, or a torturous affair.
When I was a kid, our tradition was to go visit one of our close family friends for the day. They had four kids (one biological child, three adopted siblings from South Korea) so it was a larger family to hang out with.
Both of my parents moved to a different state from where they were born, met each other, and married, so we don’t have any extended family within 200 miles of us. The father of our family friends was my dad’s college roommate, who also moved far from home and settled in the same town as my dad, so they also didn’t have nearby family to visit with.
We’d spend all day hanging out at their house while the adults cooked food, then have a great feast in the afternoon. Then spend the rest of the evening sitting in the living room with full bellies and conversing. It was a nice time, but I was a kid with undiagnosed ADHD, so sitting still was extremely stressful for me and I usually got a pass to go play, after spending at least a little time visiting with people.
As soon as I turned 18, I joined the US military and moved out. For the next 20 years, I was stationed all over the globe, never anywhere near family, so Thanksgiving was just another day to me.
When I married, my wife suggested starting our own tradition. We’d buy two Cornish hens and cook them for ourselves, with a few sides. Cornish hens look just like chickens, but very tiny, so we could each have one to ourselves. Plenty of food for a couple with no kids.
When I retired from the military, I moved back home to take care of my dad, who was suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. Now that I’m closer to my family, they insist on dragging me out to Thanksgiving every year.
When my dad was still alive, he was invited to tag along with my sister while her family had Thanksgiving with her local in-laws. Since I was also living at home, I was also given an invite.
But since my dad passed away almost 2 years ago, I’m no longer invited to Thanksgiving. Instead, my sister has a “Thanksgiving leftover party” for my wife and I, the day after Thanksgiving. We go over to her house and eat whatever leftovers they took home from their in-laws.
My sister’s in-laws are extremely conservative, religious types. The patriarch of their family was a pastor, so my sister literally married a pastor’s son.
I am an atheist. I don’t go around discussing religion with anyone who doesn’t specifically ask for a conversation about it, and I’ve never attacked anyone about their religious beliefs or tried to convince them of anything. Heck, I understand that most people need something to believe in, so if religion is what they need in their life, then by all means, accept Jesus into your life.
But my sister only heard the word “atheist” and freaked out, so the first time I met her in-laws, I got a lecture beforehand about not discussing religion with anyone. And I believe she “warned” her in-laws about me too, because I got the cold shoulder all night.
Ever since then, her in-laws hardly even glance in my direction. I’m lucky if I get a simple “hello” when I run into them. So it’s not a surprise that when my dad passed away, I stopped getting invited to Thanksgiving with my sister’s family.
Which is fine with me. Again, the holiday holds no special symbolism or meaning to me. It’s just a day to spend time with family and I get to do that on the day after Thanksgiving with my sister, the only family I have left in my local area.
So yeah, long story short, Thanksgiving is just an excuse to hang out with family to me, and as long as I get to do that at some point, I don’t really care about the specific holiday.