Belly full of thanks
Thanksgiving 2004 in Dallas
December 1, 2004
iranian.com
I am Iranian born and my wife is born and raised American. We
consider the holidays an opportunity to gather with our close
relatives and
friends; time to spend some quality time with our loved ones.
The Thanksgiving Day tradition in our family is for my wife's
parents and siblings (my in-laws) to be guests in our Dallas home.
The ritual begins the day before Thansgiving (Wednesday night)
when all participants show up in our house and spend the night
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Since our guest sleeping accomodations are limited, most of
our Thanksgiving guests end up sleeping on sofas or in sleeping
bags
on the living room floor! But otherwise we all have lots of fun.
Plus it gives us an excuse to clean our house once a year! (just
kidding - huh)
We have a light dinner on Wednesday night and often go to a movie;
always chosen by the kids! This year our kid went to his favorite
movie with the grand mother and the rest of the adults went to
a different show. Free babysitters are a gift from God!
Some years
the Persian portion of the family (my sister and I or anyone
else who is staying with us who is Iranian) spends a part of Wednesday
night visiting some Iranian friends and/or relatives! On occasion
we have gone to a local Persian restaurant on this night!
On Thanksgiving morning, we wake up to a light breakfast prepared
by my mother-in-law and then we all bundle up and head downtown
for the Dallas Turkey Trot. This is an annual charity walk/run
organized by the Dallas YMCA to benefit local charities. More than
30,000 people participated this year, with their registration numbers
on their chests, proudly walking in and around downtown Dallas.
 One year we decided that although we had paid for Turkey Trot
registration, we didn't want to deal with the crowd and ended
up walking on a
lakeside trail and away from the downtown crowds. That was lovely
and we walked the same distance but everyone felt a little guilty
and we haven't done that again! Ahhhh, pitty!
After the walk we visit the make shift food stands setup in the
city plaza and get our bagful of free bananas, apples, oranges,
yogurt drinks and other goodies donated by good-hearted businesses
who sponsor this event.
On the way back to the house we're all smiles and think of nothing
but the blessed feast of turkey, trimmings and pecan pies (among
other goodies) that is waiting for our guilt-free bellies! Although
in all other family gatherings in our house the main emphasis on
food and drinks is Persian, we have kept our Thanksgiving a strictly
American event although hot tea and pistachios somehow find their
way to every Thanksgiving party!
>>> Photo
essay
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