I always get excited when November rolls around. Not just because of the autumn weather and the pumpkin spice, but because it’s time for one of my favorite holidays: Thanksgiving!
My family has celebrated Thanksgiving for as long as I can remember, but our traditions have changed over the years. When I was younger, we lived in Massachusetts and many of our Thanksgivings were spent with extended family. My family is Bangladeshi American, so family traditions are very important to us. At those early Thanksgivings, our holiday traditions didn’t look much like the American Thanksgivings I heard that my friends were having. We ate traditional Bangladeshi food, and wore traditional Bangladeshi clothing, and spoke a lot of Bengali with relatives.
We moved away from the East Coast when I was in elementary school. This led to my immediate family spending more holidays on our own. Thanksgiving became more of an immediate family holiday for us, leading to the traditions that we have today.
One of our family traditions is to start Thanksgiving morning by watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. I’ve always loved seeing all the different floats and performances each year. After the parade, we always watch the National Dog Show and guess which breed will take home the crown. My guess is usually never correct.
Image Source: OneStopHalal
We divide up cooking duties among the family so everyone can be involved. My sister and mom do most of the cooking, but my dad helps with the meat, and I am a great taste tester! After, we’ll put on a movie or some music (Taylor Swift and ABBA are common favorites) until it’s time to eat!
Our celebration includes a combination of both American Thanksgiving food and Bangladeshi food. My older sister was the one who started this tradition. As she was growing up and learning more about American Thanksgiving traditions, she would ask my parents if we could start including some more traditional American foods on our Thanksgiving menu. Now when we celebrate, we have the usual holiday suspects: stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, rolls, and a halal turkey to top it off. For our Bangladeshi foods, we include traditional rice and meat dishes that balance out the meal. One of my favorite Bangladeshi dishes is kacchi biryani which is a traditional meal including mutton and rice. This is a perfect blend for our family as we honor our cultures’ traditional experiences, while also celebrating our American side.
Our combination Thanksgiving exemplifies the true meaning of Thanksgiving: gratitude. Being with my family and celebrating both of our cultures reminds me of how lucky I am to have this diverse blend of cultures and the opportunity to celebrate them with the people I love. We always take time once we’re eating our Thanksgiving meal to reflect on the things that we are thankful for from the past year and look forward to all the exciting things to come. We acknowledge how blessed we are to be taking time off from school and work to enjoy quality time while enjoying some delicious food!
As I grow up and see how our version of Thanksgiving has changed over the years, it makes me hopeful for the future as we continue making new traditions while honoring the old ones. And I know no matter what our next version of Thanksgiving might look like, this holiday will always hold a special place in my heart.
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Lubabah Hassan is a junior at Indiana University studying Biology on the pre-medical track. She is originally from South Bend, Indiana. She stays involved on campus with her involvement in the Hutton Honors Council Association as the STEM Neighborhood Coordinator and as Vice President of the Biology Club. She also volunteers with the American Red Cross and IU Health Hospice. In her free time, she loves to paint, play the violin and spend time outdoors with friends and family.
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