By Mirjana Hutnik – 9th Grade, Peters Township High School

Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday.  The thought of the whole family sitting around the table with plates of steaming food at the center just waiting to be cut into is really comforting.  On a day where we celebrate and give thanks for everything and everyone we have in our lives, it is extremely important to have all those people with us.  Everyone has their own style of celebrating that shows their thanks and love in an unique way.

In my house, we normally have family staying with us during the week leading up to Thanksgiving day.  In the morning of the big day, everyone gets up early and we eat breakfast together as we watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  After that, things really pick up and it becomes a frenzy of people running around completing last minute chores to prepare for dinner.  My entire “Pittsburgh” family comes to our house which means that there is around thirty to forty people sitting at the table.  At dinner time, my grandfather says a prayer and then we dig in.  As the food is being passed around, the anticipation of the first bite is stronger than ever.

After dinner, most of us are stuffed to the brim with turkey and mashed potatoes so we tend to sit and watch football games and someone always ends up falling asleep. For those of us who stay awake, there are normally some very heated debates regarding the game, especially when the Steelers are playing. Unfortunately, that is not the case this year so there may not be as much emotion on the line, but there will certainly be some.  Once everyone is rejuvenated, the pies start to roll out.  The kids all sprint downstairs at the sound of dessert being unveiled.  I think everyone gains a jump in their step after hearing the news.  I know I do when I hear the pies are on their way.

The end of the night follows shortly after and just like that it is over and there are 364 days until the next Thanksgiving.  Although it is no longer Thanksgiving day, our family has a tendency to just show up Friday evening for leftovers unannounced.  I always like that because it’s like no time has passed from the day before.

 Mirjana Hutnik is a freshman at Peters Township High School.  She likes to play softball, travel, watch Netflix & hang out with friends.