Allison Gillman ’23

It was a spontaneous trip. Our plan was to visit Amsterdam for Thanksgiving, but at dinner one night at our hotel, we talked ourselves into a road trip to Belgium. The next morning, we piled into the nine-person rental van. Pia and I were just getting comfortable when the vehicle abruptly jolted upwards and we watched with increasing horror as we sped down a trolley lane. The wrong way. My mom’s scream suddenly filled the air. “Oh my God, Teddy! Get off the trolley tracks, you’re gonna kill us!” That’s when we spotted the trolley coming straight for us.

Nadia Avdiu ’22

The fourth Thursday of November: a time full of familiarity, warmth, and obviously, thanks. The consistency of the holiday itself is what gives Thanksgiving its charm, from the date, to the history and of course the food. In the Avdiu family, we tend not to abide by the rules of food conformity. As a household filled with vegetarians, vegans, picky eaters and pescatarians, the element of Thanksgiving food is one that has never been consistent. So, every year when Thanksgiving rolls around, the table is overflowing with everyone’s cravings. Previous years favorites include empanadas, chenese takeout and freshii. Why not?

Finnegan Courtney ’23

Six years ago, my family encountered a very strange Thanksgiving. One day prior to the Feast of Feasts, we had an unexpected visitor. A small mouse had climbed into my grandmother’s pantry and we are still not sure how long the mouse resided there. Anyways, we didn’t discover the mouse until a small pile of half-eaten Doritos had been found on a shelf. Almost like the famous Squirrel scene from National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, my father and uncle kneeled in front of the pantry and for almost a half-hour, attempted to get the mouse out. Our entire family was gathered in front of them until finally, the mouse jumped out of the pantry.

Toby Goldfarb ’23

Two days before Thanksgiving day, the Goldfarb family was headed to Vermont with our French Bulldog, Dre. My brother, Owen was walking him before we left. All of a sudden, Owen looked up and to his dismay, discovered that our dog had been consuming a pile of deer poop. While I was getting a dog treat to distract Dre, it was too late. The pile was already gone – in Dre’s stomach. It wasn’t long before it was time to hit the road. Dre decided to make himself at home on my mom’s lap. As soon as we pulled out of our street, Dre started making funny noises. Within seconds, he was throwing up full pieces of deer poop all over my mom. Let’s just say that wasn’t her best Thanksgiving break.

Hamza Islam ’20

Four years ago, my mother’s side of the family joined us for Thanksgiving. To our surprise, my aunt, who lives in Dubai, surprised us by coming. I was excited to see her but the chaos which ensued was not fun. During our Thanksgiving dinner, my dad spontaneously decided to get tickets to see the Patriots play the Jets the next day. As he was talking about how we would get there, I felt a grumble in my stomach. I slowly got up and ran to the bathroom but ended up vomiting all over the floor. I had no idea why I was sick because the only thing I ate was some cold pizza from the fridge for breakfast. Turns out I got food poisoning from the pizza and didn’t make it past the second course. 

Shanti Wimmer ’23

I was about seven and was super excited for my cousins to come over for a Thanksgiving brunch meal. We got up early and helped my mom make the food, and we skipped breakfast in preparation for the big meal coming at 11:00. But my cousins were running a little late. So we waited. 11:30 a.m.. 12:00 p.m.. We were getting really, really hungry… and impatient. 1:00. 1:30. Finally it was 3:30 and my cousins still hadn’t arrived, let alone answered any of our calls. We finally called my grandparents, who told us that my cousins family was in New York at the Macy’s Day Parade! In the end we still had a nice meal, but we didn’t invite my cousin’s family for quite a few years after.

Eleanor Vail ’23

It was twelve o’clock in the afternoon when across the table the food was strewn

The turkey, gravy, green beans and more but most importantly desserts were galore

Looking around myself I assessed

Which sweet treat looked best to ingest?

Until my eyes lay upon a beautiful, brown pie

You didn’t have to tell me twice to give it a try

I devoured it quickly but the delight didn’t last

The foul mix of meat and flavorless mush filled my mouth fast

I felt my mouth form the shape of an O

It was chicken pot pie, now I know 

Lauren Bullock

One Thanksgiving day, my parents were in the kitchen happily preparing our holiday feast. I was in the living room playing monopoly with my siblings and watching the Macy’s Day parade on TV. My sister suddenly grabbed one of the pieces and started running around the dining room table. As I chased after her, my father didn’t notice when he walked in with a scalding hot dish of candied yams. I ran right into him. The dish went flying out of his hands and the sugary syrup spilled all over me leaving blisters and burns. Kids! I still love yams!

Kelly Shamas

In typical Thanksgiving fashion the oven caught fire. My mom put the turkey in one of those flimsy catering tins and when she pulled it out some of the grease spilled into the oven causing it to catch. Naturally, each one of my siblings panicked then swore they had a great idea as to how to put the ever growing fire out. Between salt being poured over everything and baking soda filling the air it finally took the billowing smoke to reach my father who calmly gets up, walked into the kitchen and simply shuts the oven door to put out the flames.