There’s no one-size-fits-all version of Turkey Day.
How do you celebrate the tastiest holiday of the year?
There are a few things most American families do each year: prepare a big meal (and probably complain about how expensive it was to prepare), look for ways to express our gratitude, and maybe even gear up to brave the biggest Black Friday sales of the year. But if you think back on your favorite holiday memories, it’s likely the most unique and personal moments that really give you the warm-and-fuzzies.
We asked the readers of our Wake-Up Call newsletter to share the traditions that make them happiest every November, and below we’ve rounded up a few of our favorites, from the heart-warming to the hysterical.
A perspective-changing dinner
Growing up, it was just me and my mom, so my Thanksgiving dinners were usually just the two of us. I remember looking enviously at other families and their big celebrations and thinking, “Wow, so that’s what Thanksgiving is.”
Fast forward many years later: My mom has passed on, and my Thanksgiving dinner is usually spent at a restaurant with my husband and two sons. My one son used to work there, so we know the owner, waiters, waitresses, and cook. Everyone is nice and the other patrons, whether they are alone or with a group of people, are happy and celebrating the day. As I look around at my husband, sons, and restaurant family, I’m grateful to be with people I love. I smile and think, “Wow, so that’s what Thanksgiving is.” -Millie Schoeniger
A meaningful turkey subsitute
We roast a duck, as well as a turkey, for Thanksgiving. This started years ago: When my brother-in-law announced that he didn’t care for turkey, my mother-in-law began roasting a duck for him every year thereafter. When she passed away, he confessed that he really didn’t like duck, either, but he never had the heart to tell her. We still roast a duck every year, in her memory. -Barbara Kohl
A hat that means more than meets the eye
Ahhh, Thanksgiving. Although there are those who will share family traditions of recipes and gatherings, my family has one tried and true habit.
Years ago, when my parents were alive, we would travel to Rhode Island from New Jersey to spend the holiday weekend together. One year, my mother greeted us at the door wearing a turkey hat. My three sons were young at the time, and they thought the hat their Bubby wore was the bees’ knees.
Ever since, we have kept the tradition going. The turkey sits proudly as our centerpiece, and one of us always dons it for a photo. The meal isn’t complete without it. -Lisa Eichen
Friendly competition
Each year, we do a quiz on American history, and how and why Thanksgiving came to be an important holiday. Whoever gets the most right questions wins a gift — and the loser gets one, too. -Xuchitl Coso
Letting football dictate the schedule
As we blended our two families and as grandchildren came along (now we’re 20 people altogether), it was more and more difficult for all of us to get together on Thanksgiving, since our kids had other places to go, too. As big OSU Buckeye fans, we always assembled two days later for the OSU/Michigan football game.
After a couple of years of doing this, I suggested we celebrate Thanksgiving the day of the game and everyone loved the idea! It relieved stress, and we weren’t all eating the same meal for the fourth or fifth time. It quickly became one of our family traditions, and this will be our 23rd year. -Jennie Long
A laugh-inducing twist on gratitude
Our family — my sisters and brothers, their children, and their children (the total number today is 79) — gather each year to celebrate Thanksgiving. We’re scattered all over the United States, so the number that actually gathers together varies: This year we’ll be 46 strong.
Before our meal, each person writes on a slip of paper one thing that they’re thankful for, and all the slips of paper are mixed up in a basket. Then each person draws one slip of paper; we gather in a huge circle and one by one, each person reads the paper they’ve drawn from the basket. (Babies are allowed to have their parents read theirs!)
There are funny moments, like when an adult reads, “I am thankful for my blanket” or “I am thankful for formula.” Or when a child reads, “I am thankful for my loving wife, who puts up with me.” There are even tear-filled moments, like when someone reads, “I am thankful for all of our family members who were frontline workers” or “I’m thankful for a clean cancer scan this year.” It is a fill-your-heart tradition that I hope never ends. -Lori Wiedeman
A taste of home
Because we’re New Englanders who live in the Charleston, S.C., area, we decided years ago to bring a little bit of home to our holiday. Starting around 11 a.m., we move whatever family is with us to the beach for a brunch of New England lobster rolls, coleslaw, Cape Cod potato chips, and of course, mimosas and bloody Marys.
After a few hours of sand and sea, we head home, where a turkey breast and all the fixings are ready, for football and sandwiches. The star is always my grandmother’s oyster dressing. We love the casualness of this day with family and friends. -Karen Preston
An ancestral love for pie
When my grandfather immigrated from Italy in the early 1920s, he was just 14 years old. At Ellis Island, he was given a dried sausage and an apple hand pie. He had never seen a pie, and he ate it first — then proceeded to trade his sausage for another. Many years later, his iconic Illinois farm would have many apple trees, and we as a family cherish Pasquale’s apple pie tradition. It’s our favorite dessert. -Susie Tilton
A beloved recipe
My family’s traditional Thanksgiving food is shrimp and sausage gumbo. When my daughters were in elementary school, the music teacher reached out to me for my recipe. She said that every time she had one of my girls in class and asked about their favorite Thanksgiving foods, they answered, “My mommy’s shrimp gumbo!”
I hadn’t written the recipe down until then — I just worked from a jumble of gumbo recipes, starting with my mom’s. But the recipe I wrote and gave to the teacher is the one I now use every Thanksgiving, cooking splatters and all. -Sylvia Thompson
