Happy Thanksgiving?

The ever evolving Thanksgiving... 0-13 Thanksgiving was a huge family gathering at my grandparents home. My grandfather prepared the entire meal with the exception of my grandmother's famous rolls. There were three rooms full of people and food. After dinner, my grandfather and uncles would have a jam session until the wee hours of the morning. My Dad was the only one who never learned to play a musical instrument, so he would sing. My cousins, brother, and I would dance and sing along until exhaustion left us passed out on the couch. Thanksgiving is one of my fondest childhood memories. When my grandfather passed away, it was evident he was the glue holding our family together. After his passing, there were no more cookouts or big dinners - large family gatherings just stopped. 14-17 Thanksgiving became the perfect time for our annual family vacation. On any given Thanksgiving, we would be somewhere different in the world. Each trip was always a surprise and each trip my parents went all out. 18-20 Once I started college, I could no longer go on a two week family vacation - I had to be in school. So, our tradition changed yet again. Now the holiday was spent at home. My mom would prepare dinner and each year a different family friend or neighbor would join us. 21 I spent both my birthday and Thanksgiving in the hospital with liver failure. I was pretty depressed, thinking I'd have to spend the holiday alone. To my relief, the nursing staff extended visiting hours and opened up the cafeteria just for us. My Mom transported the entire dinner, fixings and all. Thanksgiving was spent in the cafeteria with my parents, brother, and Yoni. 22-24 Thanksgiving became a holiday spent as a blended family. After dating Yoni for a couple of years, naturally our parents wanted to meet each other. My Mom extended an invitation for his family to join us for Thanksgiving dinner. I remember how nervous Yoni and I were: his parents are VERY Jewish and my parents are VERY Christian and then there were the glaring cultural and racial differences. We had visions of a religious debate amongst flying sweet potatoes. But nothing could have been further from the truth - they got along famously. Each year the Thanksgiving table became filled with more laughter, more food, and more love. Thanksgiving became a gathering of our blended family, with collard greens sitting right next to baba ganoush. By the time Thanksgiving rolls around this year, I will be 25. Scary. I've been curious to see what our Thanksgiving would look like this year. Yoni and I are no longer together. However, our parents are still great friends and go out together several times a month. Would we have dinner with a two ton elephant in the room? Would we revert to the Thanksgiving we had before his family? Neither, my parents are skipping town. They are taking a vacation - without us. That's right, my brother and I will be fending for ourselves this Thanksgiving. WTF?! Whatever happened to family togetherness? I look forward to this holiday each year. What is better than eating all your favorite foods (Soul food or Israeli food) all on one plate? What is better than seeing the look of agony on the face of the sucker dumb enough to take my Dad on in an eating contest? What is better than having dinner, together, with my family? Apparently, a vacation is. Think of us and our pizza as you carve the turkey this Thanksgiving. On a lighter note, I hear the Friday after Thanksgiving is a huge party day. Perhaps we will take advantage of having a big empty house at our disposal...