Thanksgiving Bookends
by Steve Watters on 11/21/2007 at 6:30 PM
Among our American readers celebrating Thanksgiving, who is going to be spending time with the broadest span of ages? Who will be connecting with friends and/or family on the furthest edges of young and old?
In my opinion, it's those bookends that provide the most fodder for giving thanks. Celebrating Thanksgiving in a house filled with both gray hair and young children can provide a healthy balance of wisdom and promise.
It can give context for:
- How things have gotten better
- What things we've lost
- Where you came from
- What we have to be hopeful about
But it's also a helpful reminder that those of us between 20 and 40 are reaching our prime -- that we're coming up on the collision of vigor and wisdom, passion and reflection. Yes, it's still marked by things like eating at the "kid table" even though you have your master's degree, but it's also marked by those different looks you start to get from both young and old -- looking to see how you're embracing this prime season of life.
It can be a strange and stretching experience, but it's to be expected of those of us approaching our prime -- and it's a good reason to be thankful.
1. DEH said the following at 8:30 PM on Nov 21:
I'll be celebrating with my 79-year-old grandmother and meeting my 2-month-old cousin for the first time this Thanksgiving. I may even get to see my 98-year-old great-grandfather. It's amazing to see family of all ages come together to celebrate what they are thankful for. Thanks for the post.
2. Bethany said the following at 1:16 PM on Nov 23:
Both of my sets of grandparents came over yesterday, but they're all in their 60s. My youngest sibling is 4 months old. :)
3. Kellie said the following at 10:00 PM on Nov 24:
My family is in that slightly strange period where the youngest kids are adults. The oldest person in attendance at Thanksgiving dinner was 75, the youngest 19.
4. lily zhao said the following at 6:59 AM on Nov 26:
we here,in China,do not celebrate the thanksgiving Day,but we learn a lot of it in our English classes. Well,I
thanks for the past.
5. Don said the following at 3:43 AM on Nov 27:
I spent my Thanksgiving evening with my family where the youngest just turned 1 and the oldest was 89.
Yes, I ended up sitting in the "kid room" even though I almost have my master's degree, but I also had a few really good conversations with some of my cousins, so all in all it was a good experience.
6. Esther said the following at 10:57 AM on Nov 27:
This Thanksgiving was spent with my grandparents (mid-80's), random aunts, uncles, family friends and siblings (youngest is 14). I do miss having little kids around. The holdays (especially Christmas) don't seem the same without the excitement of young children. I guess that (being in my mid-20s), the addition of children is probably in my court at this point. That's pretty challenging to think about.
7. RF said the following at 12:35 PM on Nov 27:
Sadly enough, this was the first Thanksgiving family reunion spent without the grandparents. So, the age bracket was not as large as it used to be. It was still fun to spend it with aunts and uncles and newly married cousins...and yes, at 24, I'm still sitting at the kids' table. At 12, I couldn't wait to sit with the adults...thinking their conversation was so much more interesting than ours. Now, at 24, I'd rather sit with the kids and the few brave adults. :) We missed our grandparents, but had plenty of memories to share and new memories to make.