The Center of Our Thanksgiving Celebrations

Daniel Griffin

Opinion Editor

It was freezing cold, the trees turned an auburn bright orange with hints of red and yellow. It was quiet, not much going on anywhere. But on this day off of a quiet cul-de-sac in Holbrook, Massachusetts, just like every year I could remember, it was our Thanksgiving basketball game. 

A tradition my cousins, uncles, and I started as little kids, my fondest memories of Thanksgiving are the basketball games we would have with one another. After a long day of conversation and laughter while feeling stuffed we’d take our talents and the most pumped basketball out of our grandparents shed to play this game we all loved. Two teams of 3, the Griffins vs. the Whitneys, one half ripped-up court in need of a complete renovation, and an old basketball my grandfather likely used back in his playing days, everything would be left on that court year in and year out.

What felt like a championship game to us as little kids, with a spotlight off to the side acting like we were playing at The Garden and a decent crowd, was really just a combination of my grandmother, aunts, and mom. Everything felt bigger because of the magic of the moment. Just a small game as I look back, the Thanksgiving basketball games remind me of every spirit and passion I had as a child. 

Competing with my loved ones for a trophy which felt like the Super Bowl, though it was really just a collection of scotch tape, a piece of scrapbook paper, and old soda cans from my aunt’s recycling bin, it all meant so much. Growing up in a family that adored traditions and stuck true to them, while we would not see each other for weeks on months, these simple moments will always play out in my memory. Celebrating the time we were spending with one another and not concerned about anything going on in the outside world; to me, this is what family is all about. In this Thanksgiving season as we share a meal and experience with loved one’s, I too look forward to returning to my family’s age old tradition of appreciating time. 

Something that is always changing, once we reach this day and this meal, somehow it always stops. Halting as if the moment would never leave, these childhood memories of mine will always make me be grateful for the upbringing I’ve had. A happy and wholesome experience of holidays, I look forward to celebrating once again with my loved ones in the coming weeks, shooting hoops and tossing around the football just like we always have.