November 20, 2020
by Mohammed S, Salem

As Americans prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving it’s difficult to fathom that more than 1.3 million people have died of COVID-19 worldwide—and nearly a quarter-million in the United States—since the virus upended our lives in March. Like so many important milestones and celebrations, rituals are still on hold. It’s a sad moment for those of us who haven’t seen our parents since the virus took control of our lives. Yet we understand how precious life is, and are grateful for the work being done to fight COVID-19 and the inequities it has exposed. While I lament not being able to spend time with my extended family, I’m thinking about the Americans who will not celebrate Thanksgiving at all. I’m thinking about Jason Hargrove, the Detroit bus driver who died trying to get people where they needed to go. Days after posting a video of a coughing woman who stood behind him, he lost his battle with the coronavirus. A married father of six, Hargrove’s job was deemed essential in a city where nearly 20 percent of residents rely on public transportation. Hargrove’s wife, Desha Johnson-Hargrove, says that Jason “wasn’t making millions of dollars, but he felt that he was directly responsible for the safety of his passengers, and he always attempted to connect with them. “In return,” she says, “his passengers would protect him from unruly riders. They all understood that they were on the bus together.”Thanksgiving’s roots began with a similar realization. The European settlers known as the Pilgrims were bound together by a compact and common goal to survive. Like today, it was a tough time. The Pilgrims would bury 52 colleagues that first winter near their settlement, which itself sat near a former Native American hamlet that had been decimated by hemorrhagic disease, likely spread by earlier European traders. Over the centuries, Americans made it through tough moments without the comfort of the annual family gathering. This year's advice for this holiday’s celebration: Keep the family together by keeping it apart.

Do it by zoom and don’t let Junior come home and kill Grandma. Of course, no one wants to infect his family or cause them pain. Who said that celebration is canceled, We can still Celebrate another way.

Dine together virtually

Organize a meal exchange among a few households. After deciding on a menu together, you can add all of your recipe links to a shared spreadsheet. Each household signs up for a dish or two to make in bulk divides them up into equal portions and delivers them to the other households on Thanksgiving morning. Broadcasting your computer display on your TV can make your far-away family feel a little more life-size.

Order or send food

If you’re looking to cut yourself some slack, ordering side dishes is far less stressful than preparing an entire Thanksgiving feast yourself. Even if you want to make some dishes yourself, it can be nice to supplement them with a few ready-made options. You can always order basic precooked sides from the grocery store. But also consider picking up food from a local restaurant, which is a great way to support businesses hit hard by the pandemic

Scale it back

Your guest list is likely to be much smaller than usual this year, which means you can scale your menu back a bit. If you don’t plan to repurpose the turkey carcass for stock or congee after Thanksgiving, cooking drumsticks or a breast instead of a whole bird might make more sense. You can also try mixing things up by cooking Cornish game hens or duck instead of turkey. Consider halving recipes and making fewer sides. And again, don’t be afraid to order some sides from your local restaurant, bakery, or supermarket.