When I was a little kid, every Thanksgiving was spent at my great aunt’s house. My mom, dad, brother, and I would drive there to meet up with my 8 aunts and uncles and all my cousins. Every family would bring a side dish, and my great aunt would make the turkey. Since I was the youngest in the family, my cousin Cara was forced to basically babysit me because my brother was stubborn and unwilling to do so. When it was finally time to eat, everyone would gather around the table.
"We would all hold hands and take turns saying what we were thankful for. Since I was around 5 years old, I always just said I was thankful for food."
Once everyone went, we would all go into the kitchen where the food was to make our plates. There were never enough seats at the dining table, so most of the guys would eat in front of the TV and watch football while the rest of us ate at the table. We would spend most of the day there and would leave when it started to get dark.
The day after Thanksgiving my immediate family would celebrate. My grandma would come over to help my mom cook Thanksgiving dinner. My mom always waited till the last minute to start cooking. I was in charge of making the mashed potatoes, and by that, I mean I added however much butter and milk I was told and stirred until my arm practically fell off. The five of us would then sit down at the table and pig out on the food. After dinner, my dad and I would load up the dishwasher and put on a movie in the family room. We would both take a nap in the big red chair we always shared, and if we woke up from our food coma, we would get seconds.
~~ Emmalee Brammar, Class of '24
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