I remember at 21 having my first Thanksgiving outside of the United States. I haven’t had Thanksgiving with my parents at their house since my senior year of high school. I’ve been with my parents three times since then for Thanksgiving, just never at their house. Thanksgiving when I was 21 was spent at the Missionary Training Center in São Paulo, Brasil. They actually took us to get our visa passes that day and it was a bit of a cognitive disconnect for me to think of government offices being open on Thanksgiving.
After we got back from our morning trip to the visa offices we came back for lunch. The people who worked in the cafeteria treated us to one of the best Thanksgiving lunches I’ve ever had. It was a spread unlike any I’ve had before. The fact that Brasil has more fruits than anywhere I’ve ever seen really helped. Fresh fruits. Fruit desserts. Meats. Potatoes. And of course beans and rice. It was so bright and colorful. And delicious. They even had little cornucopias that they put with each of our trays as we went through the line. The thoughtfulness was real touching.
My brother and I were in the Missionary Training Center together preparing for our separate missions in Brasil at the time. It was fun to watch the reactions on people’s faces when they put together that we were related (we definitely look related). Those are good memories with him for me.
I am an educator and PhD. I quilt, belly dance, run, read, and try to grow things. I am a Mormon. I am infertile. I am a daughter, sister, aunt, grand-daughter, friend, wife, and mom.
Brett L. Dennis
Mama g
Giggles
AmandaStretch
My niece has two children on their missions now. I imagine it would be hard on the parents to have both children gone at the same time.
For you it was a cognitive disconnect. For me, this year in Tucson, I’ll probably go check the mail on Thanksgiving even after having this conversation. :brett:
And if you do that, we’ll just pretend we meant to go for a walk instead and keep going around the block. :lisa:
I remember Anjuli, Dad and I having Thanksgiving dinner together then packing up and moving to Kentucky the next day. That’s almost what we will be doing this year too. :tractor: