To many people, Thanksgiving is a time for sharing delicious meals with loved ones and bonding over family traditions. To some people, it is a way to kick off the Christmas holiday. To some people, it is just another day like any other. For me, Thanksgiving is a day of nostalgia and appreciation.

The holidays were always something of great importance to me, especially as a kid, when we would celebrate with our classmates and the teachers would bring fun snacks and activities. For some reason, Thanksgiving is the one school holiday I remember the most.  Thanksgiving was when we could sit on the large blue carpet that kept its home in the center of our classroom and watch “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.”

The Thanksgiving season was one of the best times of elementary school because we would all be together with the shared questions of what presents we would get under the tree for Christmas.

I remember sitting in my elementary classroom making a hand turkey for someone we wanted to give thanks for. For me, that person was always my mom. My mom has always played a big part of the holiday celebration within my family. But most importantly, she is a significant person to me.

Thanksgiving in our house has always been a time for bonding and laughing and watching movies. But the main part of Thanksgiving that I remember ever since I was little was admiring my mom.

My mom has always loved to cook so she always enjoyed making the Thanksgiving meal. Of course, she was tired after all the hard work she did, but I always appreciated her for it. My mom and I have always had a special bond ever since I was little and could barely reach the table to see what food she was making.  But I was there with her watching her cook a special meal for her family.  This is a happy experience that has stayed with me over the years.

My mom would send us outside to play tag or throw the football but the only thing I could think about was how much fun my mom was having in the kitchen, laughing and talking to family members we didn’t see very often. I was always attached to her hip so anywhere she was, I wanted to be too, even if it was a hectic kitchen with a bunch of family members being there with her making different things.

During my early childhood and even now, my mom is always there for me. If I fell and scraped my knee, she would bandage it.  If I was scared of the monster under my bed, she would be the one to scare it away.  If I wanted to watch a movie or a TV show she would be right there with me laughing at characters that made no sense to her.

To me, Thanksgiving means a sense of nostalgia and flashbacks to 3rd grade when we were all huddled together watching movies and giggling when Snoopy started to cook.

Thanksgiving means making arts and crafts all day at school in the shape of a turkey, but most importantly, Thanksgiving means another year of admiring my mom cooking while I try to mimic what she does in my own bowl,  wanting to be just like her.

Thanksgiving is when you are supposed to give thanks to the people and things you care about so just like every year, I want to give thanks for my mom and all that she does for her family.