Thanksgiving, I’m not going to let you down

This is the time of year when we are rushing to finish our outdoor chores, swapping our screens for storm windows, and digging out the beautiful fall foliage that decided to settle in our gutters while we get ready for the holidays.  The magic that is in the air only this time of year starts to swirl around and we look forward (and brace for) time with family and friends.  The words LOVE and GIVING and THANKFUL pop up in our vocabulary more often.  As the year enters its twilight months, we reflect back on what we did and what we will do differently.  

With the social limitations this year that we’ll have to contend with, it may feel like someone threw a wet washcloth on the momentum of the holidays and one could easily find a reason to throw in the towel (and throw out the turkey) and let this holiday season go by with a perfectly good excuse: the virus made me do it.

Well, we in the Azuna family are taking a different approach and it does not consider forfeiture an option.  This year, we plan to take the lumps and bumps of a socially distanced, capacity limited, restrictions-so-tight-they-absolutely-came-from-the-Grinch-himself holiday season and make it wonderful.  And that starts with Thanksgiving.

My name is Jack Greco, I am the newest member of Azuna and I have a large Italian family.  For those who are not Italian, that means my friends are my brothers, my uncles are guys my father went to grade school with, and every year we find a way for our table to fit a nearly infinite number of people.  Thanksgiving is turkey and tortellini, mashed potatoes besides manicotti, and a bazaar of generational desserts that I wait all year for.

This year, we cannot all be together at once, and logistics are going to require some tact and clever design, but everyone’s going to eat and everyone’s going to be thought of.  For us, it means our refrigerators are turning into distribution centers and I get to be the delivery driver.  I use Azuna pucks in my fridge to keep the food fresh while it waits its turn for takeoff, and I will leave Azuna in there to preserve the leftovers I amass in my travels.

Thanksgiving, I know you are showing up at a rough time and it will be a little different this year, but what is not going to change is that even though it takes a little more work, more planning, and a little more distance, everyone we love will know it.  And hey, look on the bright side, no one’s going to have to keep waking up Uncle Earl because he’s snoring louder than the football game.