I had a Zoom Passover Seder this year. I made my first brisket. My daughter discovered matzah pizza. It turned out to be a special time in the middle of hard time. 1/x

I haven’t had Thanksgiving with my parents since HS. Going to school out of state we prioritized me coming home for Christmas. Same when I moved to the west coast. 2/x

My adult Thanksgiving have varied from me holing up in a fancy hotel by myself to “orphan” Thanksgivings to many Thanksgiving at restaurants with extended, extended family, to me cooking the whole meal 3/x

One of my favorite Thanksgivings was me and hubby going to Napa. 4/x

Two years ago my hubby’s family came out and we had dinner at Marie Callandars. I loved seeing everyone. Not my favorite dinner, however. (Nothing against Marie Callendars but they only serve white meat and I like dark meat) 5/x

Last year I wanted to make Thanksgiving dinner. I wanted dark meat and cranberry relish and basically the dinner of my dreams. It was me, hubby and daughter. The dinner was awesome. We had a great time. 6/x

I know a lot of you are used to one kind of Thanksgiving. But, I want you to know you can do it differently and still be filled with wonderful memories 7/x.

That Thanksgivings by myself? I loved it. I had a great meal. I got a massage, I bought socks in the hotel lobby so I could go ice skating in the park across the street. I’ve been ice skating outside in downtown LA. 8/x

It’s okay to be sad that Thanksgiving is not the same as what you grew up with. I get sad sometimes I haven’t had Thanksgiving with my parents in over 20 years. 9/x

But, funerals are much more sad. People in ICU way more sad. Life long health complications are far harder than creating a new Thanksgiving. 10/x

Make Thanksgiving special and safe. And may I suggest cranberry relish over cranberry sauce. OMG it’s amazing. 11/11