In your entire life, how many Thanksgivings were really worth it? How many of them were just depressing?

10 comments

1. Cooked a whole meal for hours by myself and my back was killing me. My husband said the food was mediocre. Not worth it.

2. They’re all worth it because I don’t get sucked into the parts that I don’t like. I don’t volunteer for anything and if anyone asks, I insist that pizza is the future of Thanksgiving tradition.

3. When I lived in America they were amazing, I’m close with my family and have a lot of family friends, we made it into a big event with lotsa food and games and fun

   Now that I don’t live in America anymore I celebrate other holidays that are a lot like Thanksgiving, I do miss it, sometimes.

4. 26 years, and I’ve never had a depressing Thanksgiving. I have a great family, so it’s not like holidays are a chore.

   The closest I ever came was weird, on campus mini-Thanksgivings during COVID, but even those weren’t bad. Just different.

5. All worth it except the one I couldn’t make because I was too hungover. I love my family very much

6. Thanksgiving 12 yrs ago I was a senior in HS. my sweet grandpa lived with us. We had thanksgiving like normal and he ate all the food and enjoyed himself. At night we went to bed as normal except me.

   I’m a night owl and was up listening to music or whatever on YouTube. My pa usually woke up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and I could recognize his footsteps. But all of a sudden I heard a major THUD. I ran to him across the hall and he was on the ground and couldn’t get up. He said he felt weak. I quickly woke my parents up and they called 911. They told me to go back to bed and the paramedics came. He was still alive and went to the hospital with my dad. Woke up and went downstairs. Dad came back home and we got a call saying to come now to say our goodbyes. I decided to go with my mom while my dad drove us. Mom and I rushed to his side and I heard the monitor beeping and thought he was still alive but his eyes were closed. I told my mom he’s still alive. But her being a nurse knew that he was gone, the beeping was something else on the machine-not his heart rate. He passed away before we could say goodbye.

   Ever since then I tried to be happy for thanksgiving but honestly dread seeing my extended family and in laws. I only like it with just my parents sister and husband ONLY. I honestly miss him so much and my grandma.

7. None. There‘s always been at least one fight or someone getting upset. Last year’s was truly depressing (my mom was in the hospital and she normally does the cooking since she‘s a chef). And because of my disordered eating it’s a really hard day.

8. Of all my decades, I would say approximately 1 handful were truly special. 15 of them served as an annual harbinger of doom. Heralding the onset of crippling seasonal depression. 5 were a thankless, back-breaking, anxiety filled decathlons of domestic prowess á la June Cleaver. The remainder were “Meh.”

9. They’ve all been worth it. It’s an excuse for good food and pie, I’m never going to say no to that.

10. As a kid I loved Thanksgivings, going to my grandparents big house in the woods and seeing my cousins and other family, watching movies and playing games was the shit.

    Then I got older and it became “help with this dish” and “let’s talk about your political views” and “your hair/clothes/tattoos are…” and it just became soul sucking. The underhanded comments and jokes at my expense wore me down over the years.

    This year I’m looking to stay with my bfs family and maybe do a small Friendsgiving instead of my bio fam! Here’s hoping it’ll be better!