Thanksgiving. An ambivalent holiday for me.  I never admired the food, which sounds crazy.  But I have never enjoyed turkey, pumpkin pie or  mashed potatoes.  And I’m the only one.  I never showed it because there were always different things for me to eat.  But to me the holiday felt more like a family party or family dinner, since I didn’t eat the foods that were considered Thanksgiving foods.  Ever since I moved to Illinois I have appreciated the holiday more because my whole family lives in Ohio.  So each year I get to drive down there and have two Thanksgivings, one with my dad’s family and one with my mom’s family.  We only get to drive down to Ohio about three times a year, because my family is always unusually busy.  Thus making family time very important.  Which I always look forward to, because I wouldn’t trade my family for anything.  I’ll always remember Thanksgiving at my grandparents house.  Every year for any holiday my grandma goes all out.  The house looks like something out of a magazine, decorated in every way possible. And the way the kitchen smells of fresh cookies and a perfectly cooked meal.  The house is small and only one floor in an old town where both my parents grew up.  Everytime we go there are always new stories to hear about their past.  And when we visit it is like living through their childhood.  Thanksgiving the holiday to be together where it feels like home and where it feels safe.  Sometimes holidays seem like they revolve around food but as you become older you realize that isn’t true.