November 19th was the last day of school before Thanksgiving break, and I know everybody was thrilled not going to school for a week. I know I was.

It gives us a break from all these different classes and work we have to do. Thanksgiving isn’t like Christmas or any other holiday; I feel like Thanksgiving is so important because we get to be around family and show thankfulness. If your parents are married or you have a stepparent, it’s always 2 or more different families you have to visit on Thanksgiving, and sometimes, you can’t make it to both.

Family’s go through so much. Some distance themselves, don’t talk to one another, and with my family, I can say we go through all of that. But something about this Thanksgiving was literally the best.

Each person in our family was entitled to bring certain items. For example, my mom’s job was to make macaroni, deviled eggs, etc. Another person was supposed to bring utensils and so forth. Bright, early morning on Thanksgiving Day, my mom started her cooking.

My mom is known for burning things in the kitchen, but everything was just right. I helped her mix things, did a couple of taste tests, and helped her store everything in the car when it was time to leave.

Thanksgiving was at my cousin’s house and everybody had to be there at 2 o’clock. All of my family members started coming group by group. Everybody did their hugs and kisses and then sat down in front of the big screen. Some watched TV and some went outside in the backyard. Once everybody settled down a little bit, it was time to eat.

Everybody had their plates full of food, and some went for seconds. Me, I’m a simple eater. All I ate was macaroni, yams, and a couple of deviled eggs. When everybody was done eating nice and full, my two baby cousins did a ballerina performance and it was the cutest.

Everybody else contributed to a TikTok dance and it was hilarious. Two people went at a time and did their dance, then the next two went and did the same thing. It was so nice seeing everybody smiling, laughing, and participating. Most of us had to do like 3 retakes because of the laughter, it was so hard to be serious.

You know how you have those “remember when” conversations? Well, after the whole TikTok dance fiasco, we all sat down and talked about special memories.

My cousins talked about how everywhere they went, they had to bring my uncle with them because he would cry if he got left alone and how he would tell on them if he never got his way. My great-grandma’s house is all of our houses and that’s where everything went down, so my mom and cousins talked about how they would all bunch up on the couch and watch TV and they couldn’t be too loud or grandma would have a fit.

So many memories they spoke upon.

After the whole walk down memory lane, everybody was tired and went home. It was so nice seeing everybody actually get together and have a great time; we haven’t done that in years. My cousin agreed on having New Year at her house and my mom agreed on having Christmas at our house.

My Thanksgiving was great.