With Thanksgiving right around the corner, families everywhere are finalizing their plans. It is one of the few days in the year when families are brought together for a night filled with family memories and secret recipes. A favorite holiday to those all over the nation, which makes for a great excuse for a cheat day!
With football games and Christmas movies, different Thanksgiving traditions help families look forward to making new and ever-lasting memories. Claire Taylor’s ‘25 family tradition consists of “[her] family and friends hav[ing] a kickball game at the BHS softball field. [They] always have hot cocoa, and cookies and invite anyone who wants to go in the morning. It’s always been a special tradition to bring people together before their Thanksgiving dinners.”
Other traditions, however, involve Thanksgiving dinner itself. Alice Gonzalez ‘24, shares that her “family makes every component of the dinner, main and side dishes while watching the Thanksgiving parade.” Some traditions are rather unusual, like Emma Swope ‘24 when “ [her family] eats Thanksgiving dinner, one of [her] cousins is chosen to smash a giant chocolate turkey with a meat pounder.”
Another Thanksgiving tradition that sparks a light in some shoppers’ eyes, maybe even more than a turkey leg, is Black Friday. Black Friday sales open doors for early Christmas shoppers, to save some money for the next exciting holiday. Jenna Pascale ‘24 says “Black Friday is like its own holiday. [Her] friends and [her] I wake up pretty early to beat the inevitable crowd and bounce ideas off of each other about what to get for [their] family members for Christmas when [they] usually just end up buying things for [themselves] instead!”
College students, craving a home-cooked meal, are also excited to come home for the holiday. BHS graduate Julianna DeMarco ‘21 says, “It is nice to just come home and relax. I enjoy seeing my high school friends and talking to them about how their college experiences have been going.”
Traditions are unique to each family as they show how much they value the lasting effect of togetherness. As Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season, friends and family, near and far, unite to celebrate thankfulness and love.
