Turkey Day

I have been in the States for 5 years now and I have never attended a Thanksgiving dinner. I guess I was invited at some point but my past memories of Thanksgiving involved patients and co-workers who brought leftovers. Yes, I have always worked on this holiday because somehow the whole thing never appealed to me. I'm also not a big fan of the usual Thanksgiving fare -- the turkey, mashed potatoes, the cranberry sauce. Not at all. I don't even have an idea why this holiday is celebrated. I must have read about it at some point or watched about it on TV but the whole meaning of it escapes me. Sure, I've seen Thanksgiving episodes of TV shows where  they pass around the question "What am I thankful for?" and each dinner participant has to share a thing or two, but I'm pretty certain that's not the historical part of it.

Anyway, I didn't wrap myself up with historical details about Thanksgiving when Ariel invited me to his first ever Thanksgiving dinner party. I just made sure I was off that day and true enough, I was and there was no holding back. Well, actually, there was some hesitation at the last minute but only because I was coming from a three-night stretch at work and the first two nights were terribly crazy. I just really wanted to sleep after the third night. It didn't help that Ariel's party would start at 3 pm. But still, I came. I was operating on two hours of sleep. Even with two cups of coffee, I know I was very exhausted.

Dinner started a little after 3. Ariel's family was there -- their first time to celebrate Thanksgiving together so it was quite memorable. His friends from work, which is more like family to him as well, were there. In fact, it was Ariel's boss, Stanley, who did all the cooking, despite Ariel's claims. He, however, made all the table arrangements including meticulously color-arranging the pumpkin-shaped bowls.

The food was superb. Coming from somebody who doesn't like the usual T-day feast, I was really impressed.  Stanley did an amazing job with everything -- from the pumpkin soup to the turkey and the stuffing and the gravy and the mashed potatoes. Everything was yummy. I really enjoyed the flavors. And there seemed to be a never-ending flow of champagne, too. Dessert followed with pumpkin pies and muffins and chocolate cannolis and the much-needed coffee. And true to form, at the end of dinner, at the proposal of Ariel's brother, Heber, we did the "what I'm thankful for" rotation.

I thought I was gonna leave right after dinner, but I was actually one of the last few people in the party. I had a good time with newfound friends discussing relationships and the zodiacs and other fun stuff, while completely wiping out all the champagne bottles dry. We later moved to a bottle of red wine before we called it quits. Ariel's party was a blast and I was just glad I came and never bitched about being sleep-deprived. I made new friends, strengthened my friendship with the host (it was our first anniversary as friends, too!) and definitely had a good time.

And oh...wait.

I'm thankful for new friends that I met this year, my old friends who have always been there, my family, my boyfriend, for the fact that I still have a job, and the exciting adventures and experiences that I gained this year.