The holiday season is officially upon us. Whether you are Halloween obsessed or you actually think you just heard reindeer on your roof, the holiday season can be a chaotic, magical, depressing, fantastical time of year. Hallo-Thanks-Mas generally is a time for making memories with your family, and burning a hole in your wallet. Thanksgiving, in particular, is literally the perfect opportunity to give thanks. Well duh! It’s even in the name of the holiday. However, people seem to participate more in the fun activities of Thanksgiving then they do spending time saying ‘thank you’ and ‘I love you’ to the people in their life. Maybe it’s just a generational thing. Well, let’s take a look shall we!
We interviewed two people to get their views on Thanksgiving: Megan Brady, age 20, is a sophomore who loves to Hang out with friends and listen to music in her free time. Diane Brady, age 70, is a retired, stay-at-home grandmother to Megan and her three siblings. We asked them both one very simple question: What is your favorite and least favorite part about thanksgiving?
Megan: “ My favorite part about Thanksgiving is going shopping after family leave with my friends and seeing all the cute stuff that the stores have. I
am from West Chester, so me and my friends after a few hours with our family go straight to King of Prussia Mall. My least favorite part Is having to help my mom clean up all of the food and mess that my cousins made. Thanksgiving is always at my house, and things get out of control when the boys start playing football in the house. Every year my mom and I get in an argument because I miss out on some of the best deals because we are stuck cleaning up.That is definitely my least favorite part.”
Diane: “ My favorite part about Thanksgiving is being able to spend it with my family. I have three children and seven grandchildren. It isn’t too often that we all get to be with each other under one roof, especially since one of my kids lives in New York. I don’t get to see her too often. On Thanksgiving, everyone is there and it truly warms my heart. I also love taking my grandchildren’s Christmas card photograph. Every Thanksgiving, I bring over my camera and take an annual photo of my grandchildren and their parents. It truly makes me so happy to be able to do that for them, even though it is something so little. Watching my grandchildren bond as siblings and cousins is something that I am so proud of. My least favorite part about Thanksgiving is the traffic. I don’t li
ke how it long it takes to get to their house, I just want to spend as much time as possible with them and sometimes the traffic can cut that time short.”
As you can see, there are differences in the answers of Megan and Diane. Not good or bad differences; just differences. Megan didn’t really mention how much she enjoyed being with her family, whereas Diane seemed to truly capture the authentic meaning of Thanksgiving. No surprise there, since she is half a century older than Megan. That is to be expected, right? I don’t blame Megan for just wanting to have fun with her friends. In many ways, I am like that too and I bet Diane would agree that her youthful energy is what can make Thanksgiving so enjoyable! Whether you are old and nostalgic like Diane or young and love shopping like Megan, Thanksgiving is a wonderful time. Not only to do you get time to catch up with family, but you get to stuff your face with food and not be judged.
