Thanksgiving Change

What a relief to be home again. My husband, our dog and I traveled up to Minnesota to be with my mom and sister for Thanksgiving. Going to Rochester always feels like going home. It's all so familiar and comforting. But, with the blessed passage of time, things inevitably change. We all live in different homes. We all have different animals. We continue to get older and change.

For the first time in my 34 years I'm feeling like the whole traditional Thanksgiving meal is, well, played. I've always loved our holiday meals; turkey, homemade stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, rolls, gravy to top it all and pie to end the meal. Preparations are quite time consuming and require a good deal of time management. Normally I enjoy the preparation process is just as much as the consumption but this year was different. 

Obviously, since I no longer eat meat, turkey doesn't have the appeal it once did. But that has been the case for the past 3 years so doesn't explain my reaction this year. I love mashed potatoes in any circumstance so that wasn't it. I guess it was really about the stuffing. It's a very Thanksgiving thing this stuffing, tasty and special because of it's rarity. Perhaps my taste buds have changed or perhaps living with chronic pain have changed how I view a meal that requires so much time and prep. 

I feel like I would be fine with holiday meals that are tasty, healthy and full of beloved people coming together to laugh and eat no matter what the meal is. It's special to me because I was with my family and would have been just as special if we ate take-out from Noodles & Co.