Hi friends! Due to Sharon’s busy schedule this past and upcoming month, I, Brooklyn Lowry, the best intern ever, have had the honor of taking over “Sharon’s Shorts” for the month of November. So, without further ado, here is my version of Sharon’s shorts: “Brooklyn’s Briefs”.
For most, November marks the start of the holiday season! And with the holiday season comes Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday. Thanksgiving is most often celebrated by the gathering of loved ones where food is shared and appreciation is given to everyone, including those that came before us. As Thanksgiving approaches, we must take this time to cherish one another and admire those families that are different than our own.
Growing up, my holiday celebrations often looked different than those of my friends. My parents had divorced when I was young, so my Thanksgiving activities depended on which side of my family I would celebrate with. Most years, I chose to travel to Nebraska, where I would spend Thanksgiving with my dad and the rest of his family. Thanksgiving with my dad was always the best, and I often looked forward to it all year long. His family’s Thanksgiving celebration consisted of the entirety of the family gathering at his grandmother’s small home, made centuries ago, where we would all cram in the kitchen to try and cook 15 dishes at the same time. It was hectic to say the least, but it was also comforting.
Our culturally traditional dish, made every year for Thanksgiving, was “chitlins”, more formally known as chitterlings or pig intestines. Personally, I cannot stand this dish. But this is my dad’s favorite dish, and he swears that without “chitlins”, Thanksgiving would not be the same. Most of my non-Black peers do not know about this dish nor have they ever heard about it. But that’s what makes Thanksgiving so sentimental, the traditions vary by families and groups. My family brings all kinds of foods like collard greens, corn bread, cranberry sauce, and honey ham that make Thanksgiving special to my family. But many families have completely different food and celebrate it in completely different ways. Although Thanksgiving is not Thanksgiving for me without these traditions, this holiday is drastically different for everyone and every family! And we must value our uniqueness.
PCA Iowa takes pride in our values: unwavering, credible, adaptable, and quirky. Our quirkiness means we are an unconventional bunch! But we value one another’s uniqueness in experiences and strengths (or in the case of Thanksgiving, traditions and beliefs). Our differences are what makes us us.
Stay quirky 🙂
