Thankful for… no obligations
Greg and I met just before Thanksgiving seven years ago. It was then that I had to break it to my parents that 1) I was dating someone who lived 2000 miles away and 2) I was spending Thanksgiving with him in California instead of them in Iowa. This went over with my mother about as well as cold and lumpy mashed potatoes.
That first year ended up setting a tradition for me and Greg that we are all-too-happy to continue to this day. We spend Thanksgiving by ourselves. We appreciate your offer, but we respectfully decline. ALL OF YOU.
The deal is this: someone who is thinking of Thanksgiving in August sends you a Save The Date invitation for Thanksgiving dinner at her house. Of course, you have no other plans at this point so how can you decline? Going to her house would be “fine,” but there is a good possibility a better offer will come up between now and then. And one inevitably does, likely over cocktails on Thanksgiving Eve. But by then you’re stuck.
We say no to everyone. It is an equal opportunity let-down to not have us at your Thanksgiving table.
We have spent the last seven years giving thanks in many different ways:
2003: Road trip to Lake Tahoe with dinner at Rosie’s in Tahoe City
2004: Traditional dinner at home — our first in Greg’s new house
2005: Fried turkey on the beach at Pigeon Point Lighthouse
2006: Fresh crab boil at home
2007: Progressive dinner down Highway 1 from the Cliff House to HMB
2008: Semi-traditional dinner at home
This year, I prepared a traditional dinner to be eaten at home. We went on a long bike ride that morning, then took Argus to the beach in Half Moon Bay before sitting down to our evening meal. It’s always a fun day for us, with the benefit of a four-day weekend and no obligations to speak of. We truly have much to be thankful for — including our health, our families, our many wonderful friends, generally beautiful weather at Thanksgiving… and not being subjected to someone else’s calendar and menu or a day wasted in front of the television watching football in real-time.
Happy Thanksgiving!
