Thanksgiving; a holiday where, traditionally, families join together and celebrate with a feast of a dinner. Although, not all families follow the same traditions that are implemented into society. There are factors such as divorce, geographic location, or a families own special traditions that create a beautiful, diverse aspect to Thanksgiving. 

A daughter of two separate households celebrates her Thanksgiving on two different days. Her name is Maddie Steenis. She claims that as she “grew up, [she] hated the stress of celebrating every holiday twice.” (Steenis) Stennis felt that “it was too much for such little time.” Although she stepped back and said, “recently, I’ve appreciated having both families because I enjoy spending time with every person on each side. I’ve just learned to embrace the moments I have with them.” 

A student at Tahoma High school, Alison Rohrbach, expressed her “exhaustion” when it came to “celebrating two Thanksgivings in the same day.” (Rohrbach) She states, “I go down to Portland to eat a traditional turkey with my grandparents, and then drive back up to my home and eat steak and salmon with my family in the Pacific Northwest.” Alisons experience represents the families that celebrate their Thanksgiving more than once due to locative differences between her family. Although there is distance, they put in effort to celebrate with their family. Unfortunately, in Rohrbach’s case, the amount of travel that the holiday requires, tends to give it a negative “exhaustion”.

Rohrbach’s friend Stella Barry has her own family traditions that she shared about. She announced, “I don’t eat pumpkin pie, instead my family makes something called “Nenni Barry on a cloud”. It signifies for us a long standing family tradition to make a dessert unified, instead of buying a basic pumpkin pie from the store.” Stella provides an alternative tradition that is personalized to her own family. 

However anybody spends their Thanksgiving, learning about the diversity that takes place with families throughout the holidays is a gift. Not everyone enjoys the experience, but some learn to over time. The possibilities are endless when it comes to the different ways one could spend their Thanksgiving.