Ducks @ Oregon - University of Oregon

The Mellowest Thanksgiving

Korrin B.

November 28, 2009 - 5:10 PM

In past years, the holiday season has always sprung upon me with a certain sense of impending doom. Despite Thanksgiving being one of my absolute favorite holidays, it is, in fact, also the opening act for the main events of December. I have come to associate this time of the year with dark and dreary weather, stress in multiple directions, and consumer waste. Grinch? Maybe.

This all being said, this year's holiday season for me is off to a quite beautiful start. For the first time, I think I drove by the setting up of one of Eugene's first Christmas tree lots and didn't get consumed with bitterness. For the first time, I sat in a car with a friend and watched her face light up with joy as she listened to Christmas songs and I felt a small amount of peace myself. I think somewhere throughout these years I have finally been able to come to a place of understanding with the holidays. Perhaps my thoughts and feelings toward December have changed within me on a cellular level. Or, more likely, the cellular change has just begun. However, another hypothesis could be that, well, this holiday season, I will not be here.

So, Thanksgiving. I love it! I feel as though food is one of the things in life that no matter what happens, cannot fail you too bad. This is especially true when it is being cooked by the master chef that my mother happens to be. In previous years, I have spent Thanksgiving bopping from place to place, trying to visit as many people as I can. It has been a stressful process. This year, I had a gigantic feast with just me, my mother, and the dogs. Despite it being just the two of us, my mother still created four gorgeous desserts, a pan of stuffing that weighed more than the turkey, and countless tasty side dishes. We split a bottle of Californian red wine and relaxed.

There was no need for a big show, no need to break out fine china. This year, Thanksgiving taught me what the true meaning of this time of the year is all about. It should be about relaxing with people you love, feeling comfortable and in sync. I read a list I had written of things I was thankful for to my mother. I enjoyed listening to her laugh at some of my more "creative" ones, such as being incredibly good looking, which I rightfully followed up by being thankful for modesty. Her spoken words on gratitude also warmed my heart and we spent the last moments of the night collapsed on the sofa and smiling.

In about two weeks, I will be boarding a plane to Israel where I will be spending the rest of the holiday season. I have never felt so relaxed going into the holidays. I have a feeling that this trip is going to teach me something about this time of the year that I will be able to look back on forever and find peace within. I'm not sure yet what that lesson will be, but then again we never do.