Thank you for letting me be myself

Ms Lavi inquired about the purpose and meaning of celebrating Thanksgiving so this is my shout out to her. This is the short, watered down version...

In the early 1600's the Puritans left England to escape religious persecution. Many died on the ship journey over which eventually led them to the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. By the time the pilgrims arrived in America it was a cold, harsh winter and many did not survive to see spring. As you may know, America was already inhabited by people referred to as Native Americans or American Indians. The Native Americans befriended the pilgrims and taught them to hunt and plant in this new land. Thanksgiving marks the celebration of the first bountiful harvest the pilgrims had in November 1621 which allowed them to survive and prosper in their new home. They invited the Native Americans for a feast of turkey and a boatload of other food. It's all a beautiful sentiment and school plays usually reenact the feast with pilgrims and Native Americans with lots of smiles and handshaking. Of course they don't go on to show that as the settlers expanded their quest for land across the East, they banished many native tribes and enslaved the very people who helped them survive. A more accurate depiction would show the exchange of corn from the Native Americans for guns and gonnerhea from the pilgrims.

Anyhoo, I never even had turkey until I was in the second grade and our teacher made little turkey salad sandwiches to celebrate. I had so many that I ended up vomiting and vowed never to eat mayonnaise again. Of course being first generation immigrants meant our celebration had a little spice to it and included chicken biryani, somosas, and corn (as homage to our American Indian brethren). As the years progressed, the celebration became more traditional and my mom would cook a little turkey breast. My first Thanksgiving at D's house, I was amazed at how big turkeys actually were. D's family made meals from scratch although being from Wisconsin meant just about everything had cheese on it. D's mom always makes 2 pies for dessert and every year we're all too stuffed to eat them. A few years ago, D took over the tradition of making the turkey for my family's celebration. 2 years ago, to celebrate my mom's survival from cancer, my parents hosted a huge Thanksgiving celebration with family and friends for which D cooked a 20 pound turkey. Somewhere there's a picture of my dad and D smiling over this gigantic cooked turkey. If I find it, I'll definitely post it.

Tomorrow we're going to D's sister's house for thanksgiving. My parents left for India last week so I thought there would be no official celebration for my side this year. However, D took the opportunity this past Sunday to cook a mini turkey feast for just the 4 of us. As my parents used to do with us, we asked the Boy what he's thankful for this year. He scrunched his face really tight as he was deep in thought and said "I'm thankful for my mom, my dad, (the Girl), Chutney, and my Mr Incredible remote control car". I'm thankful that we still rank above Mr Incredible. : )