I have always loved Thanksgiving. My family has always enjoyed a very traditional Thanksgiving dinner… except for the fact that my grandpa isn’t American… and everyone eats lamb and spiedini instead of the turkey…and he makes pasta instead of stuffing… Okay, so the food at Nonnu’s Thanksgiving dinners isn’t exactly a traditional American Thanksgiving. But this holiday is not only about the food. The most important part of Thanksgiving is the memories you have with your family. My beloved Sicilian family is the same as any American family in this sense. We, too, have awkward political arguments, introductions of new significant others (hopefully Grandma won’t call my brother’s girlfriend, Alyssa, Allison the entire dinner this year), we all enjoy that glorious moment when everybody at the table unbuckles their belts together (except this happens at every single meal we share together because, well, we’re Sicilian), and we too enjoy our pumpkin pie served with expresso (wait, that’s normal, right?).
Okay, so my Thanksgiving is a little different than most people’s. But I have always thought that the unique Thanksgiving traditions every family has is what really makes this holiday special. I mean, who even really likes eating turkey anyway? And now that I’m in college, I am looking forward to eating my Thanksgiving penne with my aggressively loud family more than ever. Thanksgiving is a time where you can sit back and actually appreciate the weird—and typically annoying—things about your family. Lord knows what the Lancia’s 2019 Thanksgiving dinner (this year featuring 14 cousins, my Nonnu and Grandma, my 6 uncles, their 6 wives, one brother, one Alyssa (or Allison), two parents, and whoever else walks through Nonnu’s front door) has in store for me, but I cannot wait.
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