Assignment 14: Shelby Amato

My Thanksgiving has gotten slightly less traditional every year. I have two each year, one for my mom's side of the family, and one for my dad's. When I was younger, both of them were at our house and things were insane leading up to the preparation. A few years ago my aunt and uncle began hosting thanksgiving to make things less crazy at our house, and we keep my mom's side at our house. For my mom's side, the food is entirely traditional but the gathering mostly isn't. One of my cousins usually doesn't come, my other aunt occasionally makes a sculpture out of bread rolls, and this year we watched West Side Story instead of football. My dad's new grill also caused dinner to be three hours late. On my dad's side the activities are pretty normal except that my dad's side of the family is sometimes run more like a business with meetings, event planning, agendas, and email chains to organize who brings which dish. We spend most of that thanksgiving getting ready for christmas, deciding on how we'll do the cousins' gift exchange and the aunt and uncle white elephant theme. Of course, we sit down and eat and watch football as is pretty much typical. I'd say that the most atypical thing we discuss is veganism,  because my cousin is the only vegan in the family- or vegetarian for that matter- and we engage in a lot of lively discussion over health benefits, environmental effect, and how to make a nicer falafel (which she generously provided for everyone in the family). Thanksgiving, while it has become more casual as my cousins and I have gotten older, is still pretty nice.