Way back then, I sat down alone for a ‘Down Under’ Thanksgiving dinner. Thirteen hours before the family ate in Carolina. Fifteen hours before the relatives in Texas ate and then played dominoes while an uncle slipped out to his car to get a little ‘sweetning.’
An International Dateline made my early meal possible. Business partners in Sydney, Australia arranged my dining reservation.
Some four decades ago, but remembering this Thanksgiving I ate turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce at the American Restaurant in Sydney. The proprietor, a fine New England transplant, worked me in then served me first. He had already sold out dinners to ‘Yanks’ living Down Under.
Eating Turkey…I prefer the white meat…alone wasn’t much fun.
Thanksgiving abroad not unusual. Our Indiana neighbor from Romania, now a naturalized American citizen, tells me some of her family who returned to the Old Country will celebrate Thursday. Our servicemen abroad will also get turkey in the chow line. And maybe you can still eat a turkey dinner in Sydney, if health authorities haven’t closed the restaurant.
What’s unusual this 2020 Thanksgiving–Governors are asking, some even mandating families to keep the gathering small because of the pandemic. We’ll comply. But recall that my eat-alone turkey served in Australia—similar to this Thursday for many families—differs from when the Pilgrims invited their Native American neighbors to their celebration.
Different. Still, Happy Thanksgiving.
Photo by Brent Hofacher at Shutterstock
