“The Little Things” is the sixth of seven Thanksgiving articles received in fall of 2023 from Wayne High School students. Five of them were published in The Byway’s most recent November paper. All will be featured online.
Thanksgiving is a time for family, traditions, and gratitude. It’s a time for showing love and appreciation for each other. Every family has different traditions which makes their family unique.
The experiences and memories I have at Thanksgiving will be the memories I will cherish forever. My Thanksgivings are different each year. I get to spend Thanksgiving with a different side of the family each year. The traditions are different, but the memories will forever have a special place in my heart.
My favorite memories are with the loved ones that are no longer with us. I will never forget the time we went to my aunt’s house and I actually had a meaningful conversation with my grandma. I never really talked to her much before that; it left me wanting to spend more time with her whenever I could.
More recently, I’ve spent every Thanksgiving with my dad’s side of the family. We go to a different house each year, but we do the same things. We have a big turkey, stuffing, homemade gravy, potatoes, corn and lots of more good food. After we eat, all the cousins go play football or basketball and have lots of fun. One year, we threw people in the hot tub. That was super fun until I got thrown in. I was in my boots and had my nice belt on. I was really mad, but it was ok after I dried off.
When we go with my grandma’s family, we always go outside and shoot rabbits or something else like that. One of my favorite memories was with my grandpa and my brother. What happened that day is a secret. It was really funny and I don’t think I have laughed that hard any other time in my life. I will cherish these memories forever. I always look forward to Thanksgiving.
The past two years were a little different. My brother was on a mission, he is my best friend, and I would spend every day with him before he left. Not having him around during Thanksgiving was very hard for me. Luckily, he’s home now and I’m so excited to spend the holiday with him.
We don’t only do fun things on Thanksgiving, but the whole month of November. We spend a lot of time together. My absolute favorite thing we do is herd cows. Fall time is time to go out on the mountain and herd cows. I love riding in the fall weather with the colored trees. It is very peaceful, and I always leave with a smile.
Fall and Thanksgiving as a whole make me happy and I can’t wait for them to come each year. That is what I think about Thanksgiving and why I love every tradition I get to do. I’m so excited for it to come this year.
– by Timber Wood (10th) Wayne High School
Feature image courtesy of Elsie M. (5) Escalante.
Read more about the special people who make Thanksgiving fun in “Thanksgiving: One of My Favorite Holidays” by Bree Torgerson.