Families come together and make turkey, mashed potatoes and buttery rolls, and go around the table saying what everyone is thankful for.
Thanksgiving.
But what makes Thanksgiving so special to each family is the traditions they make along the way.
Every family’s Thanksgiving looks different, whether or not they eat turkey, watch football, bake pies or if the family does not celebrate the holiday at all.
It is all different and special to each specific family.
When someone is asked what their favorite part of Thanksgiving is, most people bring up their unique traditions.
“We weigh ourselves before and after we eat, and whoever eats the most wins,” Liz Duce said.
Even though not every family weighs themselves before and after they eat, this is a fun part of Duce’s Thanksgiving day.
It probably takes the family less than an hour to participate in this activity, but it still means a lot to them and adds another angle to the holiday.
If everyone just ate the same things and did the same activities with their family, the holiday would be boring and fewer people would look forward to the holiday.
These little traditions do not even have to be a huge part of the holiday, each family has little details that are unique to their family.
“The day after Thanksgiving we have a pie night which is where we take all of the leftover pie from Thanksgiving and get together to eat as much of it as we can,” Duce said.
Duce’s family makes a day out of eating the leftover pie from Thanksgiving adding a little more fun to the holiday weekend.
Even though Duce said these are her favorite parts of the holiday weekend, some families do not eat pie for Thanksgiving or weigh themselves. These are the parts of the holidays that make each year special.
“My family always skips breakfast and lunch, and then we eat Thanksgiving dinner at 3:00,” Ella McReynolds said.
Not every family always just eats turkey as well. Lincoln Wood’s family brings out the craziest foods.
“My Papa Skid, he brings octopus, the other thing is like, we all bring weird foods,” Wood said. “We have our normal meals. It’s our day to try things and then never have to try it again. Thanks to this tradition I learned that I am not an octopus guy.”
Even with these crazy foods, it is also just a great time for the family to come together.
“Thanksgiving is the one holiday where my whole family comes together,” Wood said. “Thanksgiving is the one holiday where both sides of the family come together and we share the stories of what has happened in the past year. It is also our time where we can just be honest with each other.”
The things that make Thanksgiving so memorable and one of the most favorite holidays can make it one of the most enjoyable days to be with family and try weird things.