Stories from Thanksgivings Past

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Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Because the big day has finally arrived, I figured that I would write one more post in honor of the national holiday. I think that it is pretty universal that every family has at least one good story from Thanksgiving celebrations in the past. For my family, I do not even know where to begin.

Every Thanksgiving, I stay at my grandparents’ house in a small town in Pennsylvania. My aunts, uncles and cousins that I normally do not get to see come over on Wednesday and Thursday during the festive week. To say that we have some pretty memorable stories to tell from Thanksgivings in the past would be an understatement.

A while back, my grandpa needed to fix the hot water tank in the house so that Thanksgiving dinner could run smoothly. Not long after going down to the basement to fix what he needed to, a loud booming sound roared. Everyone heard it and was confused as to what had happened. When my grandfather had come back upstairs, it was hard to miss the singe marks that covered his green sweater. It was even more difficult to miss the fact that he no longer had any eyebrows. Ah, memories.

My grandma likes to make coleslaw as a part of our big Thanksgiving meal. A few years ago, my family was chowing down on what they had gathered on their plates during the feast, just talking and having a good time. After some of my family members had decided to dig into the coleslaw, they noticed something strange about it. It was not long before they noticed that someone had accidentally ground up some plastic spoons into the cabbage mixture. Everyone was okay, but I am still happy that I did not like coleslaw at the time.

One of my personal favorite stories happened just a few years ago. When your grandpa has five other siblings, the extended family can get pretty big. One of his sisters is married to someone who has a nephew in New York City (we will call him Freddie). Freddie has no relation to the Morral family, either. My grandma had apparently run into him at a wedding and said that he was welcome to come to their house any time, out of common courtesy. 

Thanksgiving morning rolled around, and word had started to spread among my grandparents’ house that Freddie was on his way from New York City to spend Thanksgiving with our family. Freddie had decided to bring cheesecakes and stayed until late that night. I think that everyone was just as confused as the next person as to why he was there in the first place. Needless to say, that was a weird Thanksgiving for everyone.

What are some of your best Thanksgiving stories?

Thanksgiving Travel Tips and Tricks

Traveling can be long and tiring, especially around holidays like Thanksgiving. If you are driving or flying long distances, it can also be particularly stressful this time of year. It is important to have some tips in mind to keep you from being cantankerous and to help you stay alert while traveling this week.

1. Caffeine.
You probably hear this a couple of hundred times a day (from both yourself and those around you), but caffeine is truly a lifesaver in any situation. Keep a Thermos of caffeinated coffee or tea at hand in order to stay awake at the wheel while simultaneously remaining attentive. If you are not a huge fan of caffeinated beverages, just half of a square of an AWAKE chocolate bar is the equivalent to one half of a cup of coffee. You can find them here.

2. Favorite playlists and/or headphones.
Drivers: Keeping a playlist of yours at hand that you can help you from being cranky or stressed and more upbeat. Use an AUX cord to plug in your media device so that the whole car can enjoy.

Passengers: If you find the playlist choice that the driver has chosen, I definitely recommend bringing along a pair of headphones. If you are flying, this is also a good idea to keep you from boredom overload.

3. Bring chargers.
Before departure, make sure that everyone has the correct chargers for their phones and media devices. If the vehicle that you are in does not have a USB port to connect your charger to or your charger's cord does not disconnect from a block, try using a portable charger. Amazon.com has great deals on some here.

4. Read a book.
I completely understand if reading in the car makes you feel incredibly car sick (I grew up with that feeling before I thankfully outgrew it). However, if you are fortunate enough to be immune to that type of discomfort, why not bring along a good read? Pick up a magazine or check out The New York Times for their list of Best Sellers.

5. Pillows and blankets.
Visiting family that do not live even remotely close to you, so traveling takes forever and a day? Be sure to snuggle up with a pillow or two an a blanket for extra fluffiness and a more relaxing cat nap.

6. Take a nap.
This brings me to my next piece of advice, which is to take a nap. Doing makes the time go by faster, and it gets you well-rested before having to deal with the commotion that comes with being with family on Thanksgiving.  

7. Snacks, snacks, snacks.
Food can be expensive on the road, so bringing some food along is always a smart idea. Goldfish crackers, grapes, apples, pretzels, and almonds are just a few to munch on before the arrival of Turkey Day.

8. Keep your laptop at hand.
As a Thanksgiving traveler who will be making my way to my grandparents' house tomorrow, I know that I get antsy when I am in the car for an extended period of time. Because of this, I like to keep my laptop out so that I can draft blog posts and save them for a rainy day (or when I can connect to WiFi). Laptops with DVD ports also make watching movies an option.

9. Bring a notebook along.
Good idea to have on hand for my fellow doodlers and whoever likes to attempt to construct something out of random thoughts like I do. This also comes in handy if you still want to do work when/if your laptop dies on you.

10. Talk.
Being in a crammed car can cause patience between everyone to run a bit thin, but sometimes it is the best place to have enough time to talk with the family. Enjoy conversing between each other (but do not be too loud or obnoxious, or else you may get kicked out of the car).

Just A Few Things To Be Thankful For

I want to start off by saying that I am going to try and make this post the least amount of cliché that I possibly can. With Thanksgiving a measly three days away, I really want to highlight just a few things that I am thankful for in my crazy, beautiful life.

For starters, I am beyond blessed with my incredible family. I recently wrote a post for "The Odyssey" thanking my parents for everything that they have done for me, and I meant every word. I love my huge, wild family, and I would not want it any other way. Even though I might not get to see them as often as I might like to while I am at school, it just makes me cherish the time that I do get to spend with them a little bit more.

This brings me to the second thing that I am thankful for, my school. St. Bonaventure University is one of my favorite places in the world. It is not just a community here, it is a family. Exhilarating basketball games, buffalo chicken wraps from the RC and lifetime friendships are just a few things that I fall in love with every day while being here.

If not for my university, I would not have met some of the nicest people that I know. Great friends are hard to come by, but you guys have made it easy to find. I am also so lucky to have some amazing friends back home, including my very best friend. Overall, it is safe to say that I have a pretty swell support system.

I am thankful for the National Guard and my wonderful boyfriend who is training with them as we speak. Anyone who chooses to join something so honorable is extremely brave in my book. Thank you to every member in each branch of the military who have chosen to fight for and protect our country, keeping us all safe everyday. I am blessed to be an American.

Food to eat, clothes to wear, and a roof to sleep under are the typical answers since childhood, but they never stop being true. There are so many people who do not have much of anything at all, and it breaks my heart everyday. I am fortunate to call myself privileged, especially given the impoverished circumstances of people around the world everyday.

This list could go on forever, but I want to end this one by saying that I am thankful for hope. Hope for brighter days, hope for a kinder world, hope for peace. If there is nothing that we can do about something, we can fight and hope for more.

What are you thankful for?