The Best Thanksgiving Ever

Let me tell you a little bit about Thanksgiving in my family. We celebrate at my parents’ house with friends and their families. We have turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, and Indian food. We always play bingo. I’m looking forward to all of these things tomorrow.

Now, let me tell you about my best Thanksgiving ever. It was not at my parents’ house. In fact, none of my relatives were there. In fact, it wasn’t even in a country that celebrates Thanksgiving.

My best Thanksgiving ever was in Hanham, Bristol, England.

There was no pumpkin pie, because canned pumpkin was not available for purchase at any local stores.

The marshmallows on top of the sweet potatoes turned into rock solid sheet because marshmallows have a different consistency in the UK.

But let me tell you why it was the best… Everyone still tried the weird sweet potatoes. They even pretended to like them.

More so, it was the fact that my host parents, Peter and Denise, let me host a Thanksgiving celebration in their home, helped me purchase all of the food for the feast, helped me prepare it all in their kitchen, and invited friends over to join us.

 

 

The friends all came, bringing wine and gifts, willing and excited to learn about my holiday.

They let me teach them how to trace their hands to make “thankful turkeys,” and they all made one even if they felt silly doing so.

  

The rest of the food was not as disastrous as the sweet potatoes, and we all ate delicious turkey and stuffing and mashed potatoes, and talked and laughed together.

 

I was and still am so thankful for those people. I don’t know if they remember their American Thanksgiving experience, but I will always remember their hospitality and love, and how at home they made me feel in another country.