Elena Bosch Thanksgiving 2020. At this point it feels trite to call it unprecedented but, well, it is. At least for our living memory.
I’ll admit, I tend to take this holiday for granted. In the scheme of things, I celebrate it as the unofficial kick-off to Christmas. I usually spend the weekend traveling to NorCal to spend time with my in-laws, visiting wine country and indulging in way too many carbs. I cross off wish-list items at 6 a.m. in the morning on Black Friday at a big box store for my family and loved ones. I end the weekend choosing the perfect tree, decorating it with twinkling lights and adorning it with an ornament that reminds me of a special memory from that year.
This year, pretty much none of those things will happen. We won’t be traveling. We won’t gather with our family from near or far. There will be indulging, no doubt, but more than anything will be a lot of recollecting memories of overcoming struggle as we enter into what I can only imagine will be a long winter of strife.
No, instead I will be spending the holiday with my immediate family, baking a ham because we didn’t take the turkey out in time to defrost it, drinking wine shipped to us from NorCal and sharing in our abundance by supporting small shops hit hard by the pandemic. We’ll still decorate the house with lights but I’m not sure when we’ll get the tree and I haven’t really put my fingers on the ornament that really encapsulates this year.
Regardless, I will remain grateful, possibly even more so than previous years. I started this year, like so many of you, applying for and interviewing for a new job. And started a new position the week Governor Newsom issued a statewide lockdown. I had only been on the job two days when I was told to pack up and plan to work from home for the next few weeks. Those few weeks have turned into the foreseeable future. And I am grateful to have a job making an impact on children and families, that I can work mostly from home, doing work that makes me feel good and does good for the communities I live in.
I also struggled with distance learning. Just about a year ago, my in-laws moved from NorCal to Orange, living only about two miles from us and have taken on the Herculean task of caretaker for both my children as well as homeschool tutor as my four-year old started school. We had hoped he would get to participate in person since this is the age that social emotional learning is most important among his peers, but to keep him and our family safe, we’ve opted to keep him distance learning, a decision I still contemplate. But overall, he’s doing fine. I’m thankful that he’s a hungry learner and has Grandma there to help.
And, I’m grateful for my health. In a year literally plagued, so far my family has been spared, though not untouched. We have close family members who have been in and out of doctor appointments, with long-term effects of COVID-19. We have all endured tests, procedures, scares. But we’re all fine for now. And for that, I’m grateful.
In fact, I look back on my usual plans for celebrating and they don’t represent gratitude in the slightest.
Perhaps starting this year, it will.
