American Life
Auch in der Familie unserer Kolumnistin wird das traditionelle Festessen an Thanksgiving gelegentlich von familiären Meinungsverschiedenheiten verdorben.
Ginger Kuenzel on Thanksgiving
November — the month we celebrate Thanksgiving in the US. This celebration dates back to 1621, when early settlers from England gave thanks in the autumn for a bountiful harvest. We learned as children that the Pilgrims invited the Native Americans (or Indians, as they used to be called) to feast with them in appreciation of their hospitality in welcoming them to their country and showing them which crops would thrive. Although the white settlers and the Indians didn’t always get along so well over the following centuries, as the white man usurped more and more of the natives’ land, they were obviously able to put their differences aside for this first Thanksgiving feast.
That first dinner included wild turkey, shellfish, fruit, and vegetables. Today’s Thanksgiving still involves turkey, though it now comes from the supermarket. But we also serve some things that were not on the table in 1621, such as cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, and pumpkin pie.
For many, Thanksgiving also means bringing the extended family together. Even though my kids grew up in Germany, I made sure that they learned about American traditions. And today, my son Stefan loves having huge family Thanksgiving gatherings at his home in Florida. Since more and more of our relatives are moving to the “sunshine state,” these celebrations get larger every year — which brings me to the main point of this story: heated discussions around the dinner table.
You see, in our family — as in so many US families today — we don’t all see eye to eye on a lot of issues, such as our president and the direction he is taking our country in, or gun control, immigration, health care, social-welfare programs, the environment. The list goes on. Some relatives feel that Trump can do no wrong, while others say he can’t do anything right. Some think that immigrants are ruining our country; others say diversity makes our country strong.
I have a niece who moved to Florida from a town in Georgia that requires the head of household to own a gun. In her case, that head of household was her immigrant husband. It goes without saying that we won’t be seating her next to our cousin, who recently bought a gun to protect herself and her family from, among others, immigrants. I can remember a time not so long ago when this same cousin was so opposed to weapons that her children weren’t even allowed to play with water pistols.
So, as we prepare for our huge family Thanksgiving gathering, we will need to have some very strict rules: no guns at the table, for example, including water guns. No Trump supporters seated next to progressive Democrats. And at the end of the day, we will hopefully all be able to give thanks that we got through the day with everyone still speaking to each other.