6 years ago today I had the best Thanksgiving ever.

Thanksgiving is trluy an American holiday. That’s why everyone in our group began to get a little nervous as the 4th Thursday of November began to get closer and closer. We were thousands of miles away from home living in Athens, Greece and we wanted to know how we would celebrate this holiday. Nobody missed Halloween and nobody raised a fuss because we didn’t have a fall break but I was concerned. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It isn’t the food. It isn’t the football. I love Thanksgiving because of the fellowship.

Call me an old softy but I love being together with friends and family with absolutely no expectations.

You don’t give gifts on Thanksgiving. You eat together around the table. You don’t have to decorate your house better than your neighbor’s for Thanksgiving. You sit on the couch and laugh with your dad. Thanksgiving is perfect because you get out of it what you put in. It’s real and not contrived.

I was going to be heart broken if we missed out on Thanksgiving. Here we were a group of college students away from home. How would we spend this day giving thanks.

We spent it at a Greek Mexican resturant. Instead of turkey we ate French pheasant. We had mashed potatoes and corn. We had stuffing and green beans. We had it all.

It was the most amazing dinner I’ve ever had. Friends gathered around a table truly giving thanks for each other, for our families, and for our blessings.

Every year since then I have tried to tap back into those feelings of thanks and fellowship I expereineced that night. Who would have thought that a Greek Mexican resturant would help me understand the meaning of an American holiday? Happy Thanksgiving everyone.