On this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for my health, and that of my family. Married life is hard. Kids are hard. Parents getting older is hard. Life is hard. But there is so much that is going well, to be thankful for, and commonly skipped over as not even an afterthought. It's a good time to reflect on that, if even once a year.
I just got word not 24 hours ago that my uncle passed away a couple days ago. What a year. In May, I took my family to meet my aunt. She was in poor health already. Within weeks of our return to the US, I got word that she had passed. Combine that with my dad's emergency open heart surgery last Black Friday, and that means that within the past year, my father and his entire set of siblings had life-threatening conditions, and my dad was the only one who survived. For that alone, I am thankful beyond words.
I also recently got to spend a week back in the Bay Area, where I caught up with old friends pretty much every single day I was there. It was a great visit; refreshing for the soul. Some friends you lose, and some friends you lose touch with, and it's really hard to say which is worse. But I think as time goes on, you get to cherish every conversation that much more. For that, I am thankful.
Not cooking a full turkey this year, as nobody will eat the whole thing. So this year, I opted for some a smaller serving that will hopefully be tastier. Almost everything else will be "traditional". After all, I have to convince my kids later on that they had a somewhat "normal" childhood, and convince ICE that I'm American enough to not deport.
- Garlic butter roasted turkey thighs
- Chinese-style green beans
- Mashed potoatoes + gravy
- Roast brussels sprouts
- Mushroom soup
- Stuffing w/ jujube (because I didn't want to buy a giant bag of cranberries!)
- Roast Japanese sweet potato
- Blackberry pie
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