Rice: To the introvert at Thanksgiving
CM Life photo illustration | Jo Kenoshmeg
Are you planning to visit your family for Thanksgiving? Are you bracing yourself for awkward conversations about politics, questions that pry a little too far into your personal life or a family whose volume reaches 80 decibels?
Well I … don’t have the answer for you.
From yelling matches on Christmas to divorcees and weird food, I’ve seen quite a bit. I’m lucky to say that I have a big, loving extended family, they’re just … a lot.
One of the most memorable moments for me was about this time two years ago, when one side of the family got together for Thanksgiving. I have to preface this story by adding that the grandmother I’m referring to is one of the most classic grandma figures I’ve ever seen in real life, and a genuinely kind person.
She bakes delicious cookies, watches the Hallmark Channel religiously and enjoys the occasional margarita.
But on this particular Thanksgiving, she was teased and pushed so far to the edge that she audibly dropped an f-bomb for the first time with me at the table. It felt like a rite of passage. Of course, that only made it funnier for the teasers, who continued to cackle.
At the same time poor Granny Hallmark was pushed to the edge by heckling comments, the youngest boys at the table snuck a few too many deviled eggs into their little chipmunk cheeks, the football game roared from the T.V. in the background and the quieter people at the table sipped on beer or chipped away at the food on their plates.
At the time, all I wanted was to eat my mashed potatoes in peace. Instead, I was wondering if “Griswold” might be a more fitting last name for the family.
But in retrospect, the scene is hilarious. A snapshot might make a fitting subject for a Baroque-style painting.
So if the Thanksgiving that looms in the near future is destined to look like this for you too, fear not, and lean into it a little bit. It’s more fun that way. A grandma’s cheek-pinch never hurt anyone— well, not very much anyway.
I find it also helps to bring a book, find an activity or borrow someone for quieter conversation.
At the very least, remember that the wildness will be a fun memory in a year, two years or even by the time you inevitably stop for fast food on the way home.
