{"id":31559,"date":"2020-11-07T21:01:30","date_gmt":"2020-11-08T04:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/?p=31559"},"modified":"2020-11-07T21:11:00","modified_gmt":"2020-11-08T04:11:00","slug":"virtual-thanksgiving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mymerrychristmas.com\/x\/virtual-thanksgiving\/","title":{"rendered":"The Virtual Thanksgiving"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Virtual

Our little kitchen helpers back during our first virtual Thanksgiving<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

The Virtual Thanksgiving<\/a> is nothing new. We have been doing it for years. What makes it different now is that many, many people will have to do it due to restrictions on family gatherings.<\/p>\n

Without getting into the politics the fact that Thanksgiving<\/a> has to go virtual is not the end of the world. In fact, it can be a fun event that kicks off a whole new level of celebrating a very old tradition.<\/p>\n

Some complain that because Thanksgiving<\/a> features food so prominently it just cannot be done virtually. Actually, the exact opposite is true. That Thanksgiving<\/a> can be held virtually really speaks to how social a gathering Thanksgiving<\/a> really is \u2013 quite unique among holidays.<\/p>\n

Our family celebrated our first virtual Thanksgiving<\/a> way back in 1998. It happened spontaneously. It happened because it had<\/em> to happen.<\/p>\n

Today we have much better technology to make it happen than we did in 1998. It is fun, however, to look back and see how it was our tradition and not our technology that really made the virtual Thanksgiving<\/a> special.<\/p>\n

~ Hostages Make It Easy ~<\/strong><\/p>\n

Our children were quite young and due to a job change we had moved too far away from family to gather for Thanksgiving<\/a>. It was our first Thanksgiving<\/a> away from either family.<\/p>\n

For the years since we married it had been our tradition to spend Thanksgiving<\/a> with my family or my wife\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

A lot of young marrieds do this, switching locations each year. In fact, many of my children now are at this stage of life and we enjoy them when it is \u201cour year\u201d.<\/p>\n

I only bring this up because we fell into the virtual Thanksgiving<\/a> due to the grandmothers. We moved just after the birth of one of our children and the Grandmas were missing the passing weeks of fast change that come with a baby.<\/p>\n

Our parents were resistant at first to using technology beyond the telephone at that time. Getting on the Internet and sharing pictures then was possible. But it was not really easy or convenient.<\/p>\n

It started by accident. Using my then-new digital camera I took some fresh photos of the baby.<\/p>\n

To share them online I had to download the images from the camera, edit them on my computer, upload them to my website and then call the grandparents on the landline to tell them to go look at them.<\/p>\n

If I asked them to go look at yams, they never would have done it.<\/p>\n

But because it was the baby, they didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n

I will never forget the marvel of the moment. It was not unlike the Polaroid images of old.<\/p>\n

When they were able to see a picture from thousands of miles away that had been taken just moments before it was a miracle to them. And it changed the day.<\/p>\n

~ Spontaneity Takes Preparation and Coordination ~<\/strong><\/p>\n

From that sharing of baby pictures and the realization we had a new tool to \u201cbe together\u201d on Thanksgiving<\/a> a plan for the day ahead unfolded.<\/p>\n

You see, not only was it our first Thanksgiving<\/a> away it was our first Thanksgiving<\/a> meal to prepare, too. We had never done a turkey before.<\/p>\n

Mash potatoes were a challenge. Real cranberry sauce was a hurdle. The sweet potatoes were a yearly miracle we clearly had never been worthy of.<\/p>\n

And the pumpkin pie? Forget about it.<\/p>\n

My wife, her sisters and her mother loved what they called \u201cbaking day\u201d on the day before Thanksgiving<\/a>. For them it was a tradition. Those hours in the kitchen ALL day were important for more than just the food. They loved the time together.<\/p>\n

But it was the kids that really kept them engaged: kids in the kitchen helping to stuff the turkey, kids in front of the TV, kids playing games, and kids setting the table. The children kept the grandparents engaged.<\/p>\n

So the digital camera and the telephone that day got a work out as long as the kids were involved.<\/p>\n

We joked about it then.<\/p>\n

These were not just our children we were sharing pictures of. They were our hostages because they were the key to keeping the grandparents on both sides coming to the computer and the phone all day as we connected.<\/p>\n

~ The Thanksgiving<\/a> Things You Do ~<\/strong><\/p>\n

We learned that Thanksgiving<\/a> that we didn\u2019t have to smell the turkey, taste the yams or even set the table to enjoy each other miles apart.<\/p>\n

We just had to embrace technology and do the things we normally do on Thanksgiving<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And of course it is not the same. That\u2019s not the point.<\/p>\n

The point is doing what you can do despite the distance between you. It makes for a fun and even deeper Thanksgiving<\/a> experience if you allow it to.<\/p>\n

Here are some different ways to think about marrying technology with the traditions of Thanksgiving<\/a>:<\/p>\n