The trials and tribulations of Thanksgiving

In a few days, campus will be almost empty as many students head home for Thanksgiving. Many of our families are patiently awaiting our arrival as we make our way home from Waterville. 

As a first year, I was really excited to go home for the weekend to celebrate one of my favorite holidays. Only having been away from home for three months, I had not expected anything to change. I looked like the same version of myself, although maybe a little paler, who had left home. 

But something was different. I felt like I had grown and changed in those months, and it surprised my family. I had not realized the small changes as they occurred day to day that fall, but my family saw a fast-forwarded time lapse of those months standing in front of them. 

And I was not the only one who felt that shift. When I arrived back at school, my friends and I talked about experiencing similar things after having gone home.

That being said, be patient with your family and friends if you are seeing them this Thanksgiving break. Remember that your parents probably miss you more than you know, so be kind and be present when you are home. One of my best friends, who has graduated college, said to me, “I don’t get a fall break. This is corporate America.” We will all be in corporate America soon enough, so we should treasure our time being home.  

What has not changed about Thanksgiving since I went to college are the rituals of the day. The arrival of family. Setting the table. Lighting the candles. Smelling the food. The turkey roasting. The tea brewing. And, of course, the pumpkin pie warming.

At its best, Thanksgiving is a day where excitement fills the air and family members get a chance to reacquaint, to rejoice, to relax, to reflect. 

Often, when I am sitting around the dining room table with my family — my mother, my father, my sister, and a random assortment of friends — I close my eyes to get a glimpse of past Thanksgivings, how good they were, how much fun they were, and the affection and devotion we shared.

We all know 2021 has been a tough year with many trials and tribulations. But no matter what life threw at us, no matter the good and bad we experienced, we got through it. If nothing else, we proved ourselves more resilient than we had ever imagined.

So let us raise our glasses and make a toast. To surviving, to thriving, to engaging, to enjoying, to loving, and to living. Have a happy Thanksgiving. 

~ Maryrita Curcio `22