A No-Thanks Thanksgiving
(by Aimee Lee Ball)
A break-up with the man I’d thought was the love of my life, right before Thanksgiving, was exceptionally bad timing (although, as sociologists point out, quite common), and I couldn’t bear to join the traditional holiday dinner hosted by dear friends—a gorgeous feast where everybody brought their significant others: spouses, parents, siblings, or children. That year, like Garbo, I wanted to be alone.
My creative mother had another idea: She purchased a Holiday With the Amish. We would drive to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and have Thanksgiving dinner with a Pennsylvania Dutch family. A night in a nearby motel was included in the “package.” It