Thanksgiving has always been my favorite day of the entire year. It is a day filled with great food and even better time spent with family. Each year, my mom and I host my grandparents at our house, and it always seems like there is some sort of hilarious mishap that happens with the meal. This year, however, the laughter will be more subdued.

I have not hugged my grandparents since March. We FaceTime at least three times a week to check in, but my family hasn’t seen them much more than that. We have met up with them a handful of times following social distance guidelines with our masks on, but it is just not the same. When we see them in person, I always have an urge to give them both a big hug, but I know I can’t because we have followed the guidelines for so long that it would not make sense to suddenly give in and risk their health.

My grandparents helped to raise me, and they mean the world to me. That is why it breaks my heart that we are not able to spend time with them — especially on my favorite holiday.

Every morning on a traditional Thanksgiving, my grandma and I wake up early to talk on the phone while we both watch the Macy’s Day Parade, followed by the National Dog Show that is always on afterwards. As soon as the dog show is over, we hang up the phone and my grandparents get ready to drive to our house. My mom usually starts preparing for the meal a week in advance, but she gets up at 6:00 that morning to actually start cooking everything. 

When I say something crazy always happens to my family on Thanksgiving, I mean it. My grandpa, Pap, once set several oven mitts on fire at our old house. My mom dropped our turkey in the Giant Eagle parking lot and chased it down until it got trapped under someone’s car. My grandma, Nana, accidentally put salt into the pumpkin pie instead of sugar a few years ago. No matter what happens each year, we can always look back and laugh about it. 

Last week, my family and I finally had the talk about our plan for Thanksgiving this year. I had been dreading this conversation for weeks because I already knew the outcome. As sad as it is that we will not be together this year, we are staying apart because we care about each other’s health and don’t want to put anyone at risk. After all, we are still in a pandemic — the case count in our area and across much of the nation are in fact growing worse — and listening to the experts seems like the best way to go.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has voiced abundant advice and recommendations for Americans to follow during these uncertain times.

“If you have vulnerable people– the elderly or people with underlying conditions– you better consider whether you want to do that now or maybe just forestall it and just wait and say, ‘You know, this is an unfortunate and unusual situation and I may not want to take the risk,’” he said in an interview with Good Morning America regarding the holidays. “But it’s up to the individuals and the choice they make.” 

My grandparents are going to FaceTime us on November 26th, and we are going to eat dinner “together.” It will obviously not be the same as seeing them in person, but technology still provides us with an opportunity to safely spend the holiday as a family.

Recently, I’ve had to remind myself of all that I should be thankful for.  If the pandemic had happened ten years ago, we would not only have had to forgo dinners with our extended family, we would not have been able to see them and talk with them online. Sure, I’m sad that I will not be having a traditional Thanksgiving this year, but it will make next year so much more special when I get to spend it with my entire family — hugs, kisses, kitchen disasters and all.