Posted Dec 04, 2010
By mrphancy

All my extended family lives back in Canada, and my immediate family has never traditionally done anything for Thanksgiving. My brother and his wife live out of town, so I just go over for a quiet, simple meal with my parents.

When I was married, though, I went to the wife's side of the family's Thanksgiving lunch. The first time there, I knew only her and her parents. Stuck in a room with 20 other people I didn't know, the introvert in me paid more attention to little details, and kept myself occupied at the table with the macro mode on my camera. When you're afraid to talk to people, close-ups of Jello and reflections in spoons are remarkably compelling.

Or course, over the years I warmed up, talked more, took less pictures of food, and came to look forward to Thanksgiving lunch every year. It's been a couple years since I've been divorced and I'm back to doing nothing for Thanksgiving. In some ways it's a nice return to a quiet day by myself, but sometimes I miss gorging on stuffing and pie with a group of happy people I only see once a year.

I'm thankful I had the full-on American-style Thanksgiving experience for the few years it lasted.