A Millennial in Wonderland

I can be rigid and a total stickler for keeping traditions the same every year, especially when it comes to the holidays. But it can be difficult to do so when the world is constantly changing and throwing unexpected things at you.

Since moving to Cape May in February, I’ve celebrated all the holidays here. In April, we celebrated Passover and we had an unofficial seder. But as the seasons changed and the winter holidays are in sight, I knew there were going to be bigger changes ahead.

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays, even though it is a difficult time of the year. In 2009, my grandpa passed away the weekend before Thanksgiving. And in the years since then, I have had two Thanksgivings in Cape May, which was the start of a new tradition that was cut short.

Thanksgiving 2015 I spent incapacitated on the couch due to a muscle spasm in my lower back (think unpleasant pain & serious painkillers). And of course, last Thanksgiving when I was two weeks out from getting my wisdom teeth removed and was in a lot of pain. Two years of less than stellar celebrations.

I was hoping this year’s Thanksgiving would be a little bit better, but my grandma passed away the week before Thanksgiving. And in an unexpected turn of events, I ended up staying in Cape May. I felt like it was the right thing to do, even though I did want to be with my family. Another part of me knew that going home and not having my grandma with us at Thanksgiving dinner would just make me realize that she is really gone.

Lucky for me, I have fallen in with a great group of people through my roommates. My roommate AJ and I set out to have a Thanksgiving dinner for two people – easier said than done.

The pre-Thanksgiving weekend started out with a bang, between me spraining my ankle on Thursday night and then our refrigerator stopped working that weekend. I completely took on the “I’m not stressed, you’re stressed” mentality.

Uncertainty gives me anxiety, so not knowing whether we would have a working fridge by Thanksgiving made me worry we might not be cooking. But we had a backup fridge that was up and running by Wednesday night, Thanksgiving eve (Shout out to AJ, Tom and Kyle). AJ and I even did the Thanksgiving shopping on Wednesday night. Yes – I hobbled around ShopRite on crutches and it was not a fun time.

After 23 years, I had my first Thanksgiving away from home. It might have been one of the best holidays yet. There’s something about removing yourself from family drama and just having a casual Friendsgiving dinner that just works.

I had just written a newspaper article about breaking Thanksgiving traditions by trying new foods. I did not think I would be breaking my biggest tradition by spending Thanksgiving away from my old Virginia home. Cape May is home now.

It seems like making new traditions is better than I thought it would be. And I’m very thankful for this year’s Thanksgiving with AJ and Nabs.