Thanksgiving or any holiday around the Maze household is always interesting. It is usually one of the few times during a year that all of my family here in Alabama gets together, and I do mean all of us.

It’s truly amazing to see how we can pack 20 people into my grandmother’s house. A long time ago, there used to be a hallway separating a guest bedroom and living room with the dining room. However, everyone grew up, and we just ran out of room. So, my grandparents decided to knock out that wall and did away with the hallway.

Even then, it still gets kind of tight when we have everyone there all at one time, but that’s what makes family get-togethers so much fun — and stressful too. At times, it can feel like we’re bumping into each other, and we all have to do some kind of dance just for everyone to get to where they need to go, especially when you’re going through the buffet line in the kitchen.

Even after everyone goes through the line, we always still have way more food than we need. We have ham, turkey, dressing, my mother’s broccoli casserole and so much more that I don’t have that much space to write about it. In the dessert line, you’ll usually have a coconut cake, pecan pies, brownies, etc. As you can tell, we are a kind of big family.

After that, we just sit around in the living room or either go outside and throw the football around with the kids if it’s not raining or too cold. Sometimes, we might gather around the piano and sing some songs. My grandmother used to be the one playing the piano, but now it’s usually my brother or my aunt playing.

Everyone has his or her own Thanksgiving traditions. Mine is going to grandmother’s house for dinner and fellowship with my family. Sometimes, this is the only chance I get to see some of my family members, especially with me living here in Clanton now. I’m thankful for all of my family.

It’s always an enjoyable experience when we have Thanksgiving. I hope you will have the opportunity to spend time with your family sometime this weekend for this unique holiday.