Happy Thanksgiving (To Those Who Celebrate)

Turkey is nature's perfect food - I said it because it's true

It’s not all Canadians reading this newsletter, so for the Americans who might not know, I should explain - for reasons that I don’t entirely understand, Canadians have our Thanksgiving several weeks before yours. Other than the time of year it looks basically the same - too much turkey, and in many cases (though not mine in case my in-laws are here) too much family. We have fewer sales, though, and our big day is on a Sunday, not a Thursday. And it’s not quite as big of a holiday as the southern version.

Every holiday is a little loaded when your parents are gone. But I find Thanksgiving to be one of the easier ones. I have lots of great memories of family gatherings, and helping to make the meal when I was younger. I remember one Thanksgiving where the turkey was somehow frozen like a popsicle when we tried to carve it. But the family traditions around the day had shifted once my grandfather died in 1999, and I spent more of mom’s last Thanksgiving days without her - with friends or my own family - than with her. So, unlike Christmas, for example, the training wheels came off in plenty of time I had learned to ride Thanksgiving on my own before I had to.

This year will be odd for a different reason - it’s the first time in well over a decade that I am not cooking a turkey. We are going to a restaurant for the big dinner. And I couldn’t be more excited about it, really. I love cooking turkeys. But it’s a lot of work, and I’m happy to let someone else do it this time. As long as they make good stuffing. If they don’t there will be hell to pay.

I’ll leave you with one of the t-shirts from my store. There are 131 different designs in there now, and my favorite one happens to be on a Thanksgiving theme. I’m not sure what it says about me that this is my favorite. But it’s everything I think is funny - which makes sense since I made it:

Have a great Thanksgiving!