By Radhika Chundru

Thanksgiving is beautiful holiday celebrated by many people. Every family usually has their own way to celebrate it, so here’s mine…

Every year, my family members choose someone to host a Thanksgiving gathering. In most cases, my house hosts this gathering because most of my extended family either live in New Jersey or Chicago, so my house is considered a midway point for both.

This year, Thanksgiving is actually at my house too! We decide to gather at my house on the day before Thanksgiving and, as more and more people arrive, the house gets louder and is filled with more laughter. My grandparents come, along with my aunt and uncle from New Jersey with their two twin sons; my two aunts from Chicago and their children also come, as well as many other family members. By the end of the day, everyone is here. The adults are usually tired from the travel, so we don’t do much that day. However, the kids, including me, are very excited to see each other so we hang out and talk.

The next day is the most exciting day. It’s Thanksgiving! As soon as we wake up, we all get ready, dress up in nice clothes, and spend the day with each
other. We play board games such as Monopoly and Ludo. We also talk about what’s been going on in our lives recently since all of us don’t meet up often. And, of course we eat. Unlike most people, my family does not eat the “classic” Thanksgiving meal. We usually eat Indian food. Before, we’ve tried to eat the “classic” Thanksgiving foods, but most of my family preferred good old Indian food instead, and thus, we decided to stick to Indian food forever. For instance, my whole family loves to eat biryani. My dad usually cooks it. It’s very spicy and my family loves spice, so they don’t even leave a speck of the food behind. The day passes by quickly and soon it’s night time. During the night, we usually watch a movie that we all enjoy, like the Fast and Furious series. As we watch the movie, we all talk a lot.

The next day is Black Friday. My family loves Black Friday… well, everyone except for my dad. He doesn’t like the idea of shopping at all, but he still goes shopping with us because we force him. We all go to the mall and visit as many stores as we can before we freeze. Some of our favorite stores to go to are Target, Bath and Body Works, Macy’s, and American Eagle. Many deals and sales are going on and, even if we don’t buy anything, we love looking around. When we get home later that day, we relax, facetime our family and relatives back in India who couldn’t make it to the gathering, and spend time together as a family before people start leaving the next day.

My Thanksgiving might not sound very exciting but, trust me, I have so much fun. I don’t get to see my extended family often, so having all of us together during Thanksgiving makes me very happy. Even if we spend a short time together, we make sure it’s worthwhile. I hope this Thanksgiving tradition continues on in my family for a very long time.