Thanksgiving

Written by Joey Iwen

It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is in two days. It’s a balmy day and the grass is still green, which is rare for Nebraska this time of year. True, the radio has been playing Christmas tunes for weeks now, and the stores have had Christmas garb out since before Halloween. It’s like 2020 is saying, “let’s go from Halloween to Christmas and get this year over with!” It’s also because the normal fanfare surrounding the holiday just hasn’t been there this year due to Covid-19 (like every other holiday). The school’s Thanksgiving feast when families get to join their kids for a special turkey lunch with all the fixin’s and special desserts was cancelled. I always love looking at all of the Thanksgiving themed art plastered on the walls and garnishing the tables, and my kids are always proud to show me what they have created. We’ve not been engaging in any of the communication with family members normally required for the coordination of cooking assignments and dinner logistics associated with attending two Thanksgiving meals. With everyone doing their own Thanksgiving dinners within their own households this year, the preparation and anticipation has just been really minimal. I’m sure that a lot of people are experiencing this right now. I’m not mad or sad about it, as I know this is just the way things need to be right now. Quoting the Mandalorian, “This is the way”. 

The Thanksgiving holiday will be different this year to be sure, but I’m choosing to look at all of the positives. We can always change our perspective to create the experience we want to have. My family of four has never had our own personal Thanksgiving dinner together, nor has it ever been at our house- this will be the first. We get to prepare whatever our favorite Thanksgiving dishes are the way we want them, and we don’t have to leave the house to travel. We’ll watch the parade on TV in the morning, and we’ll get to have the dog show on instead of football. We can throw fashion out the window and wear unrestrictive clothing that allows our bellies to expand to their fullest potential (will the kids even get out of their PJs that day?!). I’ll get to set and decorate my own table, use special dishes I don’t normally get to use- mixing and matching pieces from generations past, and we can eat at whatever time dinner is ready. Brad and I will get to work together in the kitchen while the turkey is smoking out back, and we’ll enjoy some holiday drinks in the process. The kids will help make and decorate turkey sugar cookies, and we’re going to have an untraditional key lime pie as well as home-made apple pie instead of pumpkin pie. I bought turkey headband crowns to color and decorate to wear, Thanksgiving bingo to play, and I’m sure we’ll play a ton of other games throughout the day. I plan on doing a “Thankful from A-Z” activity where the 4 of us will have to come up with something we are each thankful for starting with every letter of the alphabet. It will be an intimate, casual, relaxing, and fun day with my kids and husband. That hardly seems like a sacrifice. I’ve got a ton of fun activities to do with the family over our five-day Thanksgiving break, and it should be nice enough weather to spend a lot of quality time outdoors before winter weather settles in. We’ll do a family hike to pick out our Christmas tree and an end-of-Fall bonfire. I’m really looking forward to this Thanksgiving break!! I’m also fortunate that our parents and siblings are within 30 minutes of us, so we can see them (albeit socially distanced and outdoors) anytime we’d like. I’d rather skip this Thanksgiving gathering so that we can all gather around the table together again next year. I know this isn’t something everyone can get behind, but this is what we believe in doing.  

My kids have exhibited so much resiliency, flexibility, and acceptance over the past eight and a half months. They have adapted much better than a lot of adults, in my opinion. We have already celebrated several holidays and birthdays differently this year, and they just roll with it. I’m continuously impressed and proud of them. I’ve tried really hard to plan a lot of fun things to replace our normal way of celebrating, but they have not complained once about missing out on the traditional way of doing things. We are creating the experiences we want to have, and in some cases, we may have found a better way of doing them! We have been forced to act and think more creatively, and in the process, we have found that there is not just one way of experiencing and enjoying a holiday, birthday, celebration, graduation, dining experience, social gathering, etc. We have started some new traditions that we will definitely continue in the future.

Like my kids, businesses have had to adapt with resilience, flexibility, and creativity in order to survive this remarkable time. Some sectors have obviously been hit harder than others, and there are a few lucky segments which have had immense success due to the nature of their product or service (restaurants = hard, cleaning products/companies = good). But I’m sure that every business has had to adapt and change in some manner in order to keep their lights on during the pandemic. Those that have really embraced change and have acted swiftly and creatively, have not only managed to get through this, but have actually improved their business practices, products, or services and are now thriving. I have a feeling that a lot of the adaptations will be forever embedded in how these companies operate, and things won’t just “go back to normal” when we reach our “new normal”. (Just like blowing out candles on a cake everyone is about to eat- best to not bring that tradition back when things return to normal). Sometimes we get so focused on the daily grind that it actually takes something monumental like a global pandemic to reevaluate the way we do business, the best way of doing things, and the mission of the company. Evolve. Improve. Not everyone can do it, but those that can react and change, or even be proactive, will get through this and be better on the other side. Is it hard? Of course, but it’s also an opportunity to re-think what’s important and what we really want to do. We can create our own experience. 

Businesses have had to reinvent themselves because life as we had been living it had completely changed. Buying habits have changed, patterns have changed, priorities have changed, needs and wants have changed, and incomes have changed. Everything has changed, essentially. You bob and weave, you adapt. You get creative. If you don’t, you simply won’t be around. Some business models, services, and products can be more easily modified than others, so it has left a lot of people scratching their heads. Do you figure out how to adapt a current business model and ways to reach clients, or do you reinvent everything completely? What’s really important and what do you value most? And through this soul searching and period of reflection, creativity has sometimes led to the best ideas, services, products, and companies. Change and innovation sometimes require tough circumstances to get things rolling, and Covid has required everyone to go through this reevaluation period. If we can reframe our thinking about it, though, benefits and success can be born out of tough changes. 

On this Thanksgiving holiday, more than any other, I truly have a lot to be grateful for. And it doesn’t hinge upon who I am eating my turkey and taters with. Things have been harder and different for everyone this year, but in reframing my thinking, I can be thankful for so many things. When the going gets tough, you’ve got to get creative. When we get creative and adapt, different doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It can actually be the catalyst for moving forward and for positive change. If creativity isn’t your strong suit, that’s okay, because there are people out there that can help with that (ahem, Desoto Hill Studio). When we are faced with challenges, we can choose to be negative about it or we can choose a different approach. I choose positivity and gratitude. This is the way. Happy Thanksgiving!