Distanced Thanksgiving 2: Game Night

Lisa and Doug continued, in a fashion, their tradition of hosting a party on the day after Thanksgiving. Although unable to share crabcakes and ribs, family members enjoyed seeing and talking to each other and, as in years past, playing games together - this time via video conferencing service Zoom and online gaming sight Jackbox. Joining in from their homes were Dolores and Hugh, Julie and Dan, Cathy, Chris, Elizabeth, Rebecca, Christine, Jamie, Andy and Wren. The virtual gathering went on for some five hours.

Distanced Thanksgiving: Sharing greetings online

Holidays like Thanksgiving are made for getting together with the people you care about. But caring about people means keeping them safe, so amid the continuing pandemic, our family's gatherings were sharply limited this year. Making the best of the situation, we used technology to share holiday greetings from our separate homes.

Dan and Julie held an "open house" on Zoom, with various family members dropping in at different points in the day. Marie, Brian and Xander joined from Virginia; Christine and Jamie (with kittens) from New Hampshire; and Andy and Wren (with chickens) from upstate New York. From various points in Westchester came Kathy and Robert; Patrick and Kelsey (with puppy); plus Kevin and Kathy (with Jasper), Shanna, Rick, Lucy, Kevin and Brien. Genevieve and John, Bea and Jack zoomed in from Manhattan and Vivien, CJ, Charlie and Austin from New Jersey. Jamie's mom, Bonnie, and dad, Paul, also popped in with Thanksgiving greetings.

"It was wonderful seeing everyone and getting to relax and chat together, even if not in person," Dan said. "To get to visit with so many of our favorite people made the day feel special. And without the holiday traffic!"