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Note From Amy: When the Holidays Look a Bit Different

By Amy Ghiglieri, Publisher, Macaroni Kid Westminster-Carroll November 20, 2020

Thanksgiving is going to look different for so many people this year due to COVID. As I was thinking about what to write in this week's Note From Amy, one of my college girlfriends sent this photo from a Thanksgiving that took place 13 years ago in Atlanta. I had actually forgotten about it, but as I looked at that picture I was reminded of how that Thanksgiving looked so different for me and it turned out to be one of the best.

There are four of us who lived together in college and have remained the best of friends. Despite living in different states from each other, we've been there for weddings, to hold newborn babies in the hospital, taken numerous trips together, our kid love each other and we've been there for the not so joy filled moments like when a few weeks ago one sent a message about some really bad news her family had received and we dropped everything on a Friday evening to jump on a group call to find out what was going on. When I think of things I'm thankful for, this friendships is always at the top of the list.

The photo was taken the first Thanksgiving after I was married. Two of us were living in Atlanta - myself and Jill, the redhead on the other side of the baby. Kristin, the girl in the brown shirt, was living in North Carolina and traveled with her new baby to Atlanta to join us. Her husband was working Thanksgiving Day. The fourth friend, Catherine (not pictured), was in Pennsylvania. It was the first Thanksgiving I spent without my family. Newly married, my husband had to work Thanksgiving night so I stayed in Atlanta to spend the holiday with him. Packed into a small duplex, with lots of people, it was a dinner full of laughter and fun. A Thanksgiving that was different from all of the others, but so good and so memorable. Seeing that photo was a perfect reminder about how different isn't always bad.

No matter what your Thanksgiving might look like this year, don't write it off yet. Lower your expectations and try to enjoy the day. It might just end up being one of the holidays you look back on as a time of unexpected joy.

See you out there - from six feet away!

Amy