I personally can’t believe that Thanksgiving is right at the front door. It’s here folks; time to strap on the feedbag and deal with the stresses of family, cold weather, and getting out or avoiding the madness of shoppers hoping to get a TV for three dollars. Thanksgiving is like the middle child in terms of the big three holidays: it doesn’t get all the attention it deserves. It falls right in the middle and doesn’t have the creepy flashy fun of Halloween and lacks the utter chaos of Christmas, but it does have a certain sense of charm. In many ways it is the calm of the holiday hurricane. The time to sit back and relax, watch a parade or soap opera, before it all ends in a nap full of Tryptophan dreams.

I enjoy Thanksgiving. There have been some wonderful traditions that have continued throughout the years with my family, and those traditions are steeped in nostalgic roots. One of the things my parents, brother, and I will do is watch Home for the Holidays the night before Thanksgiving. The movie came out in 1995, and it has been our favorite Thanksgiving movie, if only because the movie just speaks to us and our little brood. Check out the trailer courtesy of Movieclips Classic Trailers to see what I’m talking about: 

This movie has everything. Each character feels like someone you know. At least that is how we see it. We watch this movie every year and we acknowledge that there is a bit of all of us in these characters. Tears are usually shed, mostly by my mom and me; though as my brother has gotten older he has started to get emotional too when he watches this movie. I greatly identify with Holly Hunter’s character Claudia. We’re both professionals. Professional messes. It’s just a good movie, one that truly sets the pace for how we will enjoy the holiday. I’ve mentioned this before, but I grew up with a movie family. We love our movies and we cherish them as if they were literary classics from the library.

Of course one thing that has changed a lot through the years is that we no longer watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. I remember waking up and just being thrilled to see which of my favorites would be walking in the parade. It was like Christmas! I’d be in my long Esprit sleep shirt and I’d be glued to the television. Thanks to Toonseum, here is a lovely little clip from what has got to be the best clip of a Thanksgiving Day Parade, like, ever.

What I truly love about this clip was that She-Ra and her friends were there too! I remember seeing this when it originally aired. He-Man and She-Ra fever was at an all time high and I remember making sure my parents did not change the channel. That was just how it was. When my brother came along it only got worse. We’d watch the whole parade and if either our parents tried to change the channel for any reason, there’d be hell to pay.

One other thing that was an important part of Thanksgiving was the family drama. Not the real family drama, the soap family drama. While the living room would be full of shouts and curses for football, the kitchen was the safe haven where food was getting prepped and Erica Kane was ruminating on her latest marriage.

During the heyday of soaps, there would usually be some special Thanksgiving episode on or around the holiday and I loved it. My mom wasn’t always thrilled because she’d be expecting me to help her in the kitchen, but I’d just be immersed in the worlds of All My Children and One Life to Live. I wouldn’t always get to watch everything; however, I’d still try. There was something exciting about peeking in on these characters and how they would spend their Thanksgiving.

Over on All My Children the wealthy Chandlers would have fancy feasts in the Chandler mansion while the Martins would share their thanks and love for each other in their more humble abode. Erica Kane would dine in a fancy hotel and it was all so impossibly chic. I loved the chance to just escape.

Of course One Life to Live was never one to disappoint either; sometimes there would be the inevitable food fight or some other mishap that would be shocking in some ways and hilarious in others. Usually amid all the drama there was the notion that this holiday was meant to be celebrated with family and friends full of love and happiness; even though in the next scene someone was falling down a waterfall or getting shot. Sadly those soaps are a thing of the past due to cancellations. This only means that there are new traditions to look forward to with Thanksgiving, and I can’t wait.

What are some of your traditions or nostalgic memories of the holiday? Feel free to share. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!