Assignment 14 Danielle Dutton

     When I was younger, my family used to alternate spending Thanksgivings with my dad’s family here in Kentucky, and with my mom’s family in Texas. Before school got too busy to take off the Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, we’d either drive or fly on the weekends and stay with my mom’s mom in Austin for Thanksgiving week every other year. However, since I began middle school, we have only been able to carry on the alternating tradition for Christmas, and we now spend every Thanksgiving in Kentucky with my dad’s family. And that’s where things get interesting. My mom’s family has the same views about almost everything and they steer clear of topics where they know disagreement exists. My dad’s family, on the other hand, is quite a melting pot. I have a very conservative grandmother and a very liberal aunt and everyone else falls somewhere in between. And to make it even more fun, my grandmother just loves to talk about politics. Usually my parents, aunts, and uncles just bite their tongues and try to change the subject, but I can remember a few times where debates have broken out. Nobody has ever ended up yelling or storming away from the table, but a few times the atmosphere has gotten rather tense.

     Other than the occasional political debates though, our Thanksgivings have always been happy, at least to me. Every Thanksgiving I wake up and watch the Macy’s parade with my mom and sister in the kitchen as we get all the food ready. People start arriving at our house around eleven bringing even more food – we do Thanksgiving potluck style. My dad smokes the turkey and sometimes a country ham as well, and we usually end up eating around one in the afternoon. It’s always nice to see all my family at once for at least one day out of the year, and from their smiles I can assume that despite our differences, our family Thanksgivings are always a success.