I should be in Hershey, Pennsylvania right now, but I’m not. This should have been our 19th year spent at the Hershey Lodge during Thanksgiving weekend, but it isn’t. Instead, we are home for the first time in so many years that it truly feels weird being home. It almost feels wrong. Our most loved and anticipated tradition has been interrupted. By Covid. Don’t get me wrong. I get it. This virus has taken so much from so many. Most viciously, it has taken my beloved grandmother from me. From us. This year can not end soon enough and yet I wish we could do it over. But that is for another day. For now, I’m sulking and feeling sad and that’s ok because I will shake it off. At some point. But first, let me tell you about our Hershey Thanksgiving tradition….

The first year we went, Dana was only 9 months old so it is really all she knows of Thanksgiving. We decided to go after the previous Thanksgiving had me sitting at the top of a flight of stairs at my parent’s house the entire day, very pregnant, so that Mike wouldn’t take a header down the stairs. It didn’t sit well with us so we decided we would start going away instead. My sister decided to join us because she did not overly enjoy going to her in-laws’ house for Thanksgiving. It was a perfect plan. The five of us plus my mother-in-law (of course) and the 3 of them. Oh, those were amazing years…

The kids basically grew up in that lodge. Each year they explored more and more until they knew every nook and cranny of that hotel. They would play hide and seek and make up games or “stalk” a hotel employee who was cute-lol… all while the adults relaxed with a drink or coffee in the lobby by the fire. If I’m being honest, the first few years weren’t truly relaxing for me because I was usually chasing the littles, but it was so much fun. We’d go to the park one day, Chocolate World one night. Sweet Lights was great the first year that it opened.

As the years went on, it definitely became more relaxing and my favorite vacation to look forward to. The park wasn’t completely open which was ok, especially when it was really cold. The cold air was good though because you weren’t sweating walking around the whole park. There was no pressure to do anything really. We spent some really good quality time with each other: us, my sister, my brother-in-law and my niece. Those were some of the best years of my life. Truly.

With the passing of years came some other changes as well. First my mother-in-law stopped coming with us because she stayed home with the dogs so we didn’t have to board them. Then my sister got divorced and they stopped coming. Them not coming was a blow I thought would put an end to our tradition. It made us all sad. It just wouldn’t be the same. We discussed it as a family and decided unanimously to keep going.

The past few years at Hershey for Thanksgiving weekend have been an absolute blessing. Just the 5 of us. Together. Relaxing and most often laughing. The stress we all feel from work or school or just life in general melts away at that place. It’s amazing but it’s so true. It’s magical. I know things will be changing again. In fact, this year would have been slightly different as we were to be bringing Mike’s girlfriend with us. That would have been fun.

So, although our tradition was interrupted this year, I don’t believe it is done. It might look different next year. Who knows how many we will be? It won’t matter. It will still be relaxing and fun. We will keep going until none of us wants to. To be honest, I would love to still be going in the future with some grandchildren. How incredibly cool would that be?! Very cool!

I hope you all had a beautiful Thanksgiving. I did, in spite of the crappy situation we are all in. I pray that next Thanksgiving, Covid is a nasty, sad memory and life will be back to “normal”…whatever that means….

Until next time….