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DEL.ICIO.USA stranger (but wonderful) Thanksgiving
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Editor’s Note: Here’s a follow up to a story by AJC reporter John Kessler on a gathering of strangers for Thanksgiving dinner, organized over the internet through Atlanta New In Town Meetup (ANITM).
Early Thanksgiving morning, we rolled out of bed, and as usual, checked our e-mail. I’d been a little curious whether or not we’d find ourselves in the newspaper!! I was barely awake when Janet yelled from the other room that she’d been contacted by CNN, who saw the story and was interested in a possible phone interview. A check to my own e-mail showed that we had a ton of new members sign up for the group, as well as some new Turkey Day RSVPs, so it was safe to say we were mentioned somewhere! However, I did not expect to see Janet’s smiling face looking up from the front page while having my morning caffeine!
After reading the story, and laughing at our pictures, we checked out the Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday sales circulars, and headed to CVS for some essentials, before starting the preparations for the day. We’d made a majority of the food the day before; Thanksgiving was largely reserved for the turkey, baking a few odds and ends, tidying up, and greeting friends. We’d anticipated a less hectic day that Wednesday, but on our way home, the phone rings, and it ends up being ABC World News, interested in doing interviews for a national segment!! The phone call ended with us zooming home, after a McDonald’s pit stop, as they said a camera crew would be there in an hour.
By 1 PM, the turkey was safely in the oven, we were dressed and ready to greet guests. The dogs were excited by the idea of people and food, and ABC arrived to set up their cameras. A quick glance at my e-mail showed we were up to 21 RSVPs, and I also had a note asking if NBC could stop by during the party to say hello. A few of our regular members and good friends left messages asking if they could come early to help out (including Dave, who was chuckling over being called a “sweet-looking guy”, and wondered if that was a quote from us, or a compliment from the AJC. :P )
By 3:30, ABC had finished the interview with Janet, the turkey was telling us it would be good to go in an hour, and the dessert table was starting to look impressively full. I was out of tasks to work on, so I attempted to distract the cameramen with cookies and wine; sadly, they, like everyone else on Thanksgiving, were on the couch watching the game!!:)
Around 4:30, the guests were arriving, and the party was in full swing!! Of course guests brought things with them, so our food table kept on growing!! After about an hour of the more familiar faces sharing entertaining stories amongst themselves, as well as with the new folks, we all sat down to dinner. Turkey with stuffing, sweet potato and green bean casseroles, rolls, corn souffle, garlic mashed potatoes, and a few other delicious concoctions assured that we were full and couldn’t get up before we even took a look at the dessert table!
Dessert consisted of pumpkin pie, apple pie, pumpkin bread, gingerbread, two types of cookies, a blackberry pie, and a few other things I’m sure I’m forgetting, topped with a healthy dose of whipped cream. Afterwards, we moved to the living room, where we all spent a few hours chatting, telling amusing stories about ourselves, about one another, about the families we had at home, wherever home happened to be.
I escaped for a few moments to send e-mail wishes to a few members of our ANITM family who couldn’t be at the event, as well as to my own family and close friends across the country. Out of sight certainly doesn’t mean out of mind. When I returned, phone calls were coming in on various cell phones from Atlanta, Jacksonville, Indiana, New York. Our friends and family were not only calling to wish us a Happy Thanksgiving, but to mention they’d seen us in the paper, and on the news.
It was a reminder that in so many ways, we all had so much to be thankful for; not just good food and families and friends around the world that care about us, but an extended family that makes you feel you’ve come home for the holidays, even if you couldn’t. :) It was absolutely a warm, family Thanksgiving atmosphere, and our new folks felt right at home. One even brought his dog in from the car to meet Janet’s four, and a new friendship was born. :)
Though it’s not usual for our events, especially our parties, which often go into the wee hours of the morning, Thanksgiving Dinner was an early night. By 10, all the guests had departed, the kitchen looked slightly like a tornado hit it, and Janet and I were off to the outlets to be there for the midnight Black Friday sales!! We shopped until we dropped…literally. By 7 AM and many,many stores later, we were both exhausted, and when she dropped me off at my house, we both made plans to sleep away Friday. :)
It was a wonderful, wonderful few days!! Thank you so much to the AJC for showing those out there who might not know or understand that ‘families’ form in the strangest ways, and strangers can become friends in a matter of hours. We’ve added a number of new members to ours, and hope to see more than a few at next weekend’s Martini Night. Thank you, too, to all the friends, new and old, who came to share their holiday with us. You all certainly made it one to remember!! :) >>
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