One step closer to Christmas

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays of the year. Half of the family gathers at my grandparents’ house and we all sit around their small television in the kitchen watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade while preparing food for lunch. The smell of the cooking turkey and the hot yeast rolls fills the kitchen. The family is excited to be reunited. There are always new pictures to share and stories to tell. Thanksgiving is not as much fun as Christmas, but it still has its perks. With 10 people around the dinner table, we bless the food and then the fun can begin. My grandfather carves the turkey and rolls are distributed in large quantities; the first batch usually doesn’t make it all the way around the table. The mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, corn, carrots, and other dishes are passed around until everyone has what they need. In the first bite, you can tell that we are a southern family from the amount of salt and butter in everything. Health consciousness goes out the window and the feast is underway. The melt in your mouth potatoes and the juicy turkey are to die for and it wouldn’t be a McInturff family meal without the iced tea and choice of pumpkin or apple pies with ice cream for dessert. The best part of the day is that this meal is only round one. Round two begins around six or seven that night when the other side of the family comes to our house. Round two is usually a lighter and healthier meal, consisting of mostly the same foods, but prepared in different ways. All in all, Thanksgiving is a day when I see most of the family, we eat a ton of food, and my dad watches football. The pinnacle of my Thanksgiving (especially as a child) is seeing Santa Claus enter Herald Square at the end of the parade. At this moment, I know Christmas is coming.