Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday too, of the American holidays. It's the only day of the year that my parents ever closed the restaurant, and in general, I just like Thursdays. My parents would spend the day making elaborate seafood dishes with elaborate sauces, full of anise, scallions, ginger, and black beans, and Cyndy and I would make ourselves feel busy playing with dough and making imaginary food, or otherwise watching a lot of tv and eating candy from Chinatown.
Thanksgiving is also very near the time that my dad passed away, and though perhaps it should feel the opposite, this time of year, is very romantic for me. It's full of loss, but also memories, and every year I watch the particularly heart-wrenching episode of Hey Arnold where Mr. Hyunh is reunited with his long-lost daughter, and I cry, and then I make myself another plate of food. It's very therapeutic, and this is coming from someone who hates to cry. Someone once told me that they imagined I cry by shooting flames of fury from my eyes, and I'm rather pleased with this imagery. I like to pretend that's how the world thinks of me.



Karen