Columns, Opinion

Small Smiles: It’s that time of year

It’s the day of the year when 46 million turkeys are eaten. It’s the day of the year when more than 50 million people travel. It’s the day of the year when families throughout the country — across a wide range of cultures and religions — celebrate the holiday, or at least use it as an excuse to sit everyone down around the table and eat dinner together. And it’s the most underrated holiday of the year — Thanksgiving.

For as long as I can remember, my sisters and I would pack an overnight bag, my parents would say we were leaving early in the morning and we would go to bed. The next day, we would get in the car far later than planned and drive up to Connecticut to spend Thanksgiving Day with our cousins.

It has always been my favorite day of the year. The drive would last about three hours, but it would always end with us pulling up to see my cousins playing outside in the cold, fall, New England weather. We spent the day alternating between playing basketball, playing kickball, eating and watching football with my grandpa. The house was crowded with relatives, both close and far removed, and no matter how cold we had been playing outside, the house was always warm. The holiday absolutely captured my heart.

The same holiday I fell in love with is also the one that triggers the start of the crazy holiday season. Starting with Black Friday and ending in New Years, the days in between are spent shopping. It is hectic, loud and a lot of emphasis is placed on buying and receiving gifts.

Don’t get me wrong, I love that part of the holiday season too. But as I grew older, my appreciation of the holiday grew from just the fact that we played outside; I realized how much less materialistic and commercialized Thanksgiving was than the holidays that follow it. I loved how little had to go into my favorite parts of the day — playing catch outside, drinking tea with my uncle after everyone had left and watching a Christmas movie before we all went to sleep.

When people think of Thanksgiving, they think of how tough the traveling is and how bad the traffic will be, but never how crazy the mall is. Everything is congested because people are dropping everything to get to that certain relative’s house — this is a kind of chaos I will always be a bit fonder of.

With the best day of the year just a few days away, I love hearing people ask about who is going where and when they are leaving. Being a freshman in college, I think it is safe to say many have a newfound appreciation for home, and the excitement of getting back to what we all know and love so dearly — even just for a few short days — is buzzing all throughout Boston University’s campus.

Everyone is excited, regardless of the reason — be it having a few days off, getting to see loved ones that are far away, or pure excitement for the food — there is some kind of good for everyone in the few days we have coming. The day that is made of warm rooms, good food, football, apple-everything, loud relatives and unbearable traffic is the same day that is responsible for a feeling of comfort and familiarity washing over the 30,000 students here. And this warm, fuzzy buzz provoked by my favorite day will rage on from when we get back from Thanksgiving until we leave after finals.

It’s a great time of year, and I wish everyone the best-best holiday of them all.

Comments are closed.