Thanksgiving Traditions

Most American families share a common Thanksgiving experience, including turkey, family visits, and football. Each family, of course, has its own unique traditions, and we seem to be developing our own: illness. Our plan this year was to drive to the in-laws’ on Wednesday night, meet up with my brother-in-law and his girlfriend on Thursday morning, and head up to Amanda’s aunt and uncle’s home for a big Thanksgiving lunch. Afterwards, we were to drive back to the in-laws for an afternoon of football, followed by a gumbo dinner.

It was not to be. We learned after we arrived that my father-in-law had been ill earlier in the week, with a nasty but short-lived stomach virus. Conveniently, no one else started to show symptoms until we had already been exposed. Amanda’s cousins, living with her parents, started feeling sick shortly after we arrived, and we decided that we would forego the Thanksgiving lunch and avoid exposing the rest of the family unnecessarily. Amanda’s mother started feeling ill later that evening, and we headed back here on Thursday night. Amanda is now very sick, and I’m not too optimistic about my chances of avoiding it entirely.

This isn’t the first time my wife’s family has enjoyed a communal illness around Thankgiving. A few years ago, they got food poisoning from one of those grocery store rotisserie chickens. I was out of town, but Amanda wasn’t so lucky. Before that, another stomach virus hit hard and lasted the whole week.

At least this time we got gumbo.