Thanksgiving during the age of COVID | Atlanta Child Photographer

This year has definitely been one for the books. Life has been upended by a virus that it seems we are still learning about. During this time, many of us have come to realize what is really important in our lives. Family has always been important to me but I must say, I may have taken my family, outside of my husband and son, for granted. I only live 5 miles from my mother and yet, I probably don’t see her as much as I should. My dad is about 1 hour and 15 minutes from me and I don’t get to see him that often either. My sisters and cousin used to meet monthly for brunch because the only time before COVID that we saw each other was during holidays and funerals. Sad, but true. After that realization is when we decided to do the brunches. Now here comes COVID messing that up and Thanksgiving too.

Normally, we go to a different family members house each year for Thanksgiving. Sometimes  it’s my husband’s side of the family and sometimes it’s my side of the family. This year, our options were limited. Considering my parents are up in age, we have to be very careful how often we see them because we would hate to inadvertently get them sick. So, when my sister the chef decided she wanted to host Thanksgiving I was happy but a little apprehensive.

My first question to my sister was, “Who all is coming?” The attendees were my sister and her family (her husband, three kids and one of her bonus sons), my mom and bonus dad, my aunt and my son and me. I felt pretty safe because the older people rarely venture out and neither do I.

Did I mention my sister is a chef? Well, she is and a wonderful one at that. The food was delicious! When she invited us I asked if she wanted me to bring something I figured she might want me to bring some wine or something but nope. She asked me to bring the Mac and cheese. Do you realize how important having excellent Mac and cheese is? It’s monumental. I felt so daunted but agreed. My husband is the one who usually makes the bomb Mac and cheese so I made sure that I used his recipe. It was fabulous but my niece had made some too. It was almost like dueling Mac and cheeses.

Anyway, dinner was great and the company was even better. I try not to take my camera with me when I go to fun gatherings because then it will feel like I’m working. I want to make sure that I am living in the moment and not just observing and capturing it. Even though I didn’t bring my actual camera, I did use my phone camera and I received images from other family members who took a few shots. Even though this year was a little different it was no less special. Below are a few images from this Thanksgiving.

“Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.” ~ Michael J. Fox