Thanksgiving Day: What Are You Thankful For?

Thanksgiving Day: What Are You Thankful For?

10.09.2012

By Zara D. Garcia-Alvarez / @ZaraAlexis

The origin of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to the explorer Martin Frobisher who had searched for a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean and gave thanks for surviving the long journey from England. In 1578, he held a formal ceremony in Frobisher Bay in Baffin Island (now Nunavut) to give thanks to God.  This tradition of a feast continued as more settlers arrived to the Canadian colonies.

For me, almost the entirety of my family, the Garcia Clan, celebrated Thanksgiving together for the first time under the same roof. And as we said grace before our meal and then salivated at the abundance of food (which was made entirely by my cousin, Myra Tira, who is studying to be a culinary chef), the significance of Thanksgiving was made real in our time spent together.

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Chef Myra

Parties take a lot of work: the planning, the cleaning, the cooking—even the mingling. And sometimes there’s the ever dreaded politic of upholding your etiquette, your appetite, and your end of the conversation.

But yesterday was wonderful in that we simply enjoyed one another’s company—authentically. There’s enough history, personality, and chemistry in my family to keep the conversation perpetual, loud, and even raunchy! And though we can at times be irreverent both in volume, crass, and punchline, we are all trusting and open enough to laugh with one another—and at ourselves. Which was clearly evident between the second and third helpings of turkey, ham, vegetables, stuffing, mashed potatoes, apple crumble, and pumpkin pie with maple whipped cream.

What were you thankful for this Thanksgiving?

For me, it was the freedom from cooking my portion of the usual potluck thanks to my culinary-chef-cousin, the enjoyment of delicious food that reflects the abundance in our lives, and the relationships that I was born into and didn’t necessarily choose, but commit to out of bloodline, tolerance, forgiveness, and respect—those people whom you choose to love even more—simply because they’re yours.

The food, drink, and dessert always tastes better if you have someone to share it with: the right kind of company that will savour the jokes, the revealing family secrets, and the chizmizing stories as much, if not more, than the cranberry sauce or accompanying gravy. The food will always taste better when it’s made, eaten, and shared with proper cutlery, proportioned funds and—love.

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And while I’m usually not a sucker for sentimentality or tear-jerking, emotional flamboyance; this Thanksgiving I had my fill.

Lots of turkey, happiness, and laughs—more than enough in my opinion—to be thankful for.

Gobble! Gobble! Hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

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What were you most thankful for this Thanksgiving?

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