Few days on the calendar year are as closely associated with family and tradition as Thanksgiving. And as diverse as America is, so are the memories and traditions of American families’ Thanksgiving celebrations. In the spirit of the holiday we here at Circle City Veterinary Specialty and Emergency Hospital thought it would only be appropriate to share some of our favorite Thanksgiving memories and traditions. We hope you enjoy reading these and want to wish you and your family the happiest of Thanksgivings.
Aubrey Barth, Registered Veterinary Technician: I loved waking up to the sound of the Thanksgiving Day parades on TV in the living room, helping my dad mix the stuffing by hand in a huge foil pan, and that it took my brother 18 years to figure out how to correctly eat cranberry sauce (not by itself, but along with a forkful or turkey, potatoes, or stuffing).
Amy Rader, DVM, Director of Emergency Services: The first time I met my husband’s family was at Thanksgiving. I met the ENTIRE family, everyone made me feel welcome and part of the family.
Jamie Riddle, Registered Veterinary Technician: My favorite moments of Thanksgiving are getting together with my crazy family. Each year the table has been getting bigger and bigger, but I love taking a breath, not worrying about the world and being able to look across every angle of the table and see someone that I love, then stuffing our faces :).
Megan Anderson, Registered Veterinary Technician: Before my grandparents passed away, we would always go to a buffet type brunch around 10:00 a.m. No one in my family likes cooking, but there would be an “in the spirit of the holiday” turkey cooked by my mother, to be nibbled on for the following weeks. After joining the Anderson family, and attending a true dinner with the family, it’s a weird transition into a hustling and bustling clatter and clash of bodies packed into the tiny kitchen, preparing several dishes at once. I quickly learned to bring a cold dish as contribution so as to not need space in the oven or an electrical outlet. After the rest of the family leaves, we build a fire in the fireplace and trim the tree. We sip hot cocoa and talk about gifts we are considering and tease the young kids about making sure to get their letters done to Santa. Thanksgiving passes quickly into Christmas.
Kiely Clark, Registered Veterinary Technician: One of my favorite holiday memories was while working on Thanksgiving. Dr Grieshaber bought us a big ‘ol turkey. We got it out of the oven and went to carve it but couldn’t find a knife! We carved our turkey with a pumpkin carving knife…later we found a real knife in the pumpkin roll :).
Rachel Kulaga, Client Services Administrator: My favorite tradition is always going out with my family to pick out our Christmas tree the night of Thanksgiving. My favorite memory is making it home just in time for Thanksgiving the year I studied abroad in Europe. I’ve never been so happy to eat Thanksgiving Dinner and watch the Lions lose ;)!
Ray Schmitt, Public Relations/Marketing Representative: There was always a battle between myself, my brother, my sister and our cousins as to who would get to lick the beaters from the electric mixer after the mashed potatoes were made. Even now that we’re all grown we all want them. Also, to close out the night my family always gathered around the table for a card game we call Blackout. It’s similar to Spades and a lot of fun.
Danie Lodge, Registered Veterinary Technician: I like dipping my turkey in mashed potatoes & gravy!
Amanda Audo, DVM (Emergency Dept.): To me, Thanksgiving always meant driving from Detroit to Columbus to visit my great-grandmother. Her favorite restaurant was the Brown Derby, so we would go there every year for Thanksgiving dinner. Then we would get to play with our favorite toys we kept at her house.
Cassi Naden, Customer Service Representative: Everyone knows that the wishbone is a “prized” part of many Thanksgiving traditions. In my family, after everyone is done eating we play the card game Phase 10. The first and second place winners are the ones that get to break the wishbone.
Katherine Good, Veterinary Assistant: It was the first time I was in charge of Thanksgiving dinner – the turkey, sides and dessert. My first time ever making turkey. I did the normal; season the turkey, add water and butter to it. Set in the oven to slowly cook overnight. Well in the middle of the night we woke up to the smoke detector going off and smoke everywhere. Turns out I put too much water in the pot and it boiled over with fat in it. Elvis my dog wasn’t too concerned he wanted to see if there was anything he could eat. My nephew slept through the whole thing. Everything else went great. The turkey had a smokey taste to it.
Tina Beers, Registered Veterinary Technician: My favorite memory is going up to Wisconsin to my aunt and uncle’s house. My mom, aunts and grandmother would cook (I would try to help, but it never worked out for me), while my grandpa and uncles watch football (usually the Bears) and having a house full of kids. Afterwards we would set up the Christmas tree and all of my aunts would get ready for black Friday shopping.
Kelly Fisher, DVM, CCRP: After getting married, Kreg and I wanted to start our own family tradition. The morning after Thanksgiving we get up early and go to the tree farm to pick out, and cut, our Christmas tree. Two kids later, we still look forward to Friday morning and picking out that special tree.
Kate Fitzwater, DVM, MS, DACVS: One aspect of Thanksgiving that I look forward to are the leftovers, I can eat them for lunch and dinner all the way until Sunday! Good thing no one else likes them that much in my family, the more for me :).
Kim Wirth, DVM, DACVIM (Oncology): My favorite Thanksgiving tradition is my parents fighting over the time of the meal and my Dad disappearing into the garage for the remainder of the day.
