Thanksgiving Transitions

Still have leftover turkey? How about stuffing, or as those of us who grew up in Slatington say, filling?  I know, it’s not quite time to step on a scale yet. Another Thanksgiving behind us .

I have, as clients, a young married couple who have in-law issues. This is not uncommon!  We spent a session talking about their holiday traditions and how they are affected by their in-law strife.  This got me thinking about the holidays, Thanksgiving especially, and how they change over our lifetimes.

As little kids, Thanksgiving probably didn’t have a big impact.  We got to play with our cousins and probably we got asked a lot of questions about what we want for Christmas. Yay!  Oh, and the ever popular long weekend off from school.

In our teens, in addition to the days off from school, we were probably more interested in Thanksgiving football rivalries than a big meal with family.  I miss those football rivalry games. There are only a handful still played.  Slatington’s Thanksgiving Day rival was Palmerton. The first high school footbal game I ever saw in my life was Slatington/Palmerton. I must have been about six. The game was played at our stadium in Victory Park.  Slatington lost, 25 to 0.

But I digress. When we are young and married with children, that’s when traditions start to take hold for us. The holiday takes on more importance as does the thought of family as an important entity.  This is also when conflict arises. Whose parents will we visit this year?  Whose parents will be hurt? Usually, the inevitable compromise is lunch at one house and dinner at the next. Of course, it MUST be reversed the following year. Someone will remember!

As our parents age, there comes a time when the big day transitions to one of the children.  Aging parents often fight this. It is a sign of transition. It is a symbol of “now my children have to take care of me”. Eventually, the parents resign themselves to the new arrrangement, just as they resign themselves to the thought of aging.  Let’s just make the best of it.

Back to my client couple. The wife began to cry when she thought of her grandmother. Her grandmother was the matriarch for many years and her home was a social center for holidays. Now grandma lives in a nursing home hours from any family members and will be spending this Thanksgiving alone.

Time goes by so fast. Too fast. I hope you got good deals on the Black Friday. I spent my day hiking the trails of Lehigh Gap Nature Center.  I saved 100%.