How to host a fun, festive virtual Thanksgiving

Have I ever told you my grandmother is living through her second pandemic? 

Yep, she’s 106 and was 4 years old when the Spanish flu came through her little town of Helena, Montana.  It took her father and left her mother a widow.  My great-grandfather was French and he had opened a candy shop in town.  The family lived above it and my grandmother has faint memories of the smells of caramel and perching on a stool at the counter.  I was never sure if those were actual memories, or memories she created to hold on to a bit of her father.  Her mother tried to keep the candy store open, but a widow owning a business was unheard of back then.  She ended up taking my grandmother and her brother to live with friends in Seattle. 

My mother-in-law is English and grew up in London during World War II.  She has vivid memories of blackouts and bombings.  When it became too unsafe to stay, her mother took her to live with grandparents in Ireland.  Children would travel alone in boats across The English Channel because parents wouldn’t want to have their entire family on a boat in case it was attacked.  She barely knew her grandparents and didn’t see her mother again for months.

Our world has endured extraordinary tragedy and hardships before.  And these are just a couple of stories from the countless ones to come out of those times. 

But we’ve always made it to the other side.  And we’ll do it again. 

And, like previous generations,  we’ll have our own stories to tell. 

There’s no doubt right now is hard.  And hard doesn’t seem like an adequate enough word for what the world is going through right now. People are sick, people have died, people are out of work, businesses are struggling. 

But there are still things we can be grateful for, even if it’s just for a hot cup of coffee in the morning or the bed your sleeping in or the friend who called yesterday to check in and say hi. 

And, yes, Thanksgiving is another holiday, another day on the calendar in 2020 where it’s not going to be like it usually is.

But we can still make it festive.

We can still make beautiful memories.  And you can add to your story of 2020.

Think about the stories you’ll tell future generations?

Are you going to tell them about all the Facetimes and Zooms, the drive by car celebrations, the loaves and loaves and loaves of sourdough you baked, the struggle of online school, the extra family time, making Tik Toks, the business you started or the shows you binge watched?

Because one day, in the future, you’ll be sitting around the Thanksgiving table with your children, grandchildren, great nieces and great nephews, and they’ll ask you……

“What was 2020 like?”

What will you tell them?

One of the best things about right now is technology.  Usually, I have a love/hate relationship with it, but it keeps us connected in a way that letters, emails and phone calls can’t do. 

And, speaking of technology, my family and I are doing a virtual Thanksgiving this year, and, if you plan on doing the same,  I’ve got some tips for you to make it festive and fun!