All around the United States, people celebrate Thanksgiving, but some people’s traditions could be different from another person’s traditions. People have traditions to feel close to people who are no longer with us or it makes their Thanksgiving special to them. This article is about comparing and contrasting people’s traditions and for people to see if they might want to add any of these traditions to theirs.
I’ll first tell you about my Thanksgiving traditions. My family usually has 3 Thanksgiving dinners. The first one is with my mom’s family on Thanksgiving morning and during that, we usually watch a random movie and eat turkey and ham. The Thanksgiving meal is around dinner time and at that one, we watch the football game and play games like catch, hide and seek, or football. Then we’ll end up eating a smoked turkey and whatever else was made. Then the third one is a day or two after Thanksgiving we will end up eating more turkey or we will end up getting pizza and fried chicken. And at that dinner, the kids will play games like catch or tag. That’s what my Thanksgiving usually looks like.
Secondly, I’ll tell you about Ronnie Walters, a 12th-grade student at Woodhaven High School; he explained to me about his traditions: “When Thanksgiving comes around me and my family eat food and invite some of my family members and friends, and we all play games and watch football and after that, we take the leftovers and give it to the church for them to give it away to the homeless.” Even just from one person alone, one can already tell that some people’s traditions are different from other people’s.
Next, I’ll tell you about Rogue Williams, a 12th-grade student at Woodhaven High School; when asked she stated, “My Thanksgiving tradition is that every other year I go the other side of my family for Thanksgiving, so not only do I get to see them, but I also get to have a different experience every thanksgiving.”
Next, is Jaden Burris, a 12th-grade student at Woodhaven High School; Jaden says, “My family doesn’t really have one tradition for me. We go to the Thanksgiving parade in downtown Detroit. We usually stay there until the end when we see Santa Claus. That is probably the only tradition my family does. We sometimes go to my nana’s house to eat. Sometimes we would just cook at home.”
Next, is Mrs. Janice, an 11th-grade ELA teacher at Woodhaven High School; Mrs. Janice explains: “Years ago we used to all wear pajama pants to Thanksgiving dinner since my grandfather had worn what he called “lounging pants” the year before. Grandpa thought it was hilarious to see all the grandkids wearing pajama pants to dinner. We haven’t done it in years but we need to start it back up again.”
Next, is Mrs. Nagy, a 9th Grade Science teacher at Woodhaven High School; Mrs. Nagy explained that her Thanksgiving tradition is “At our Family Thanksgiving Meal which is normally 2 grandparents, 10 husbands and wives, and 16 grandkids), after we eat dinner, we get together and have every kid pull a random name from a hat to shop for a Secret Santa Christmas Gift! This has done wonders on making all the kids close and excited to shop for one another!”
Next, is Mrs. McFadden, a 9th-grade Algebra teacher at Woodhaven High School; Mrs. McFadden says that her tradition is, “Each year on Thanksgiving my entire family exchanges a Christmas ornaments. We have been doing it since I was a baby. I have enough Christmas ornaments to fill up two trees with just the ones I have received from family. Now, my kids get to experience the same :-)”
Lastly, is Ms. Ivy-Hudkins, a Counselor at Woodhaven High School; Mrs. Ivy states that her family tradition is, “When my son was in 1st grade he came home with a “thankerchief” that he made in class. It is a cloth with his handprint, decorated like a turkey. On Thanksgiving when everyone is together the “thankerchief” is passed around person to person and whoever has it, shares something they are thankful for. “
As you can see everyone has different traditions and even if they are close to the same thing they still differ to make everyone special to that person. What do you think of these traditions? Would you consider adding something like the traditions stated previously to your family’s Thanksgiving traditions?
