How To Make Even 2020's Thanksgiving Day a Happy One

           It has come to the point that if you say anything happened in 2020, we expect a disaster statement. And, indeed, "Thanksgiving 2020" sounded dismal, what with high coronavirus numbers canceling a visit with my son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter, and memories of previous Thanksgivings with Mike, my now deceased husband, gnawing at me. But family and friends are still abundant, and Thanksgiving can still be happy.

    (1) The first glimmer of a happy Thanksgiving 2020 was when a friend who is a chef said he would like to cook Thanksgiving dinner for me and a few other Thanksgiving orphans. He would have the dinners ready for pick-up at his house Thursday afternoon. Immediately I felt loved and included.

    (2) Cooking together. Many people say they miss the camaraderie in the kitchen this Thanksgiving, but my daughter-in-law's brilliant idea was for me to lead a Zoom cooking session on Wednesday with some select family and friends. I immediately started poring over recipes (a favorite activity) and finally chose a sweet-potato cheesecake, the grand prize winner for the Sunset Thanksgiving recipe contest in 2005. 

    At the appointed time all the cooks gathered on Zoom, each in our respective kitchen, and started peeling sweet potatoes together, making crusts, and mixing the baked and mashed sweet potatoes with the cream cheese, cream, sour cream, eggs, and sugars. Finally we put our cheesecakes in our ovens and said good-bye. Any of us could have done all this alone, but it was a barrel of fun to do it together. 

The finished cheesecake, already sliced

    (3) A hike is always a good idea. The weather was fine on Thanksgiving morning, so I walked up the Enchanted Forest trail, where bright yellow maple leaves, still autumn-rich, glowed against the dark trunks. I walked down the mountain composing a poem.

    (4) Family connections, such as a heart-warming phone call from my sister Laura just after I got home and, later, a text from my sister Sharon describing her dinner with her husband and a couple of friends. 

    (5) Even though there was only one place setting at the table, I could still make it beautiful, using my heirloom silver and folding the napkin in a rose shape. 

    (5) I could also wear special Thanksgiving-dinner clothes, so I did. 

    (6) Connections with friends. Mid-afternoon I drove down the hill to pick up my dinner. I visited briefly (outside), left some cheesecake with Andy and his family, then drove over the pass to deliver another Andy dinner to friends on Carberry Creek. We had a short visit (everyone masked), and Tracy packed up some squash soup and caramelized Brussels sprouts for me to take home. Then I left to put my own dinner to warm in the oven and to open a bottle of red wine.

    (7) Zoom works. Before eating I did a Zoom call with my son and daughter-in-law, who had prepared a gorgeous Asian meal. We showed each other our Thanksgiving tables and explained our foods. We toasted each other with much love, clinking glasses against computer screens. I sent Thanksgiving greetings to my granddaughter, who, being a 'tween, had declined to join the Zoom call.

    (8) Thanksgiving dinner. Finally I sat down to eat my Thanksgiving dinner. It was superb and beautifully displayed. 

Not quite as beautiful because I had already
dived in, but you get the idea.

The cheesecake was also delicious, a judgment corroborated by all reports from participants and recipients. 

    (9) Give thanks. I poured myself another glass of wine and toasted all the friends and family who had helped make Thanksgiving 2020 an occasion to be thankful for.