Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year. Gratitude is a great thing to celebrate, there's no gifting requirement, and it's an excuse to invite people over for dinner.

When I was single and living overseas, presiding over my own Thanksgiving was a great way to keep homesickness at bay. The American guests shared Thanksgiving memories and traditions. The local guests politely essayed pumpkin and turkey.

In the first few years after we came back from overseas, Thanksgiving was an extended family affair. I loved hosting Thanksgiving dinner for parents, siblings, and grandfather and great-aunt. The more and older the guests around our table, the better behaved my own family was.

Then there were the "slacker Thanksgivings" Lisa Rossi talks about. The logistics of getting Papaw and Aunt Patty here or setting up Thanksgiving in West Virginia led to remote feasts catered by Bob Evans or hosted in hotel restaurants.

Sometimes these were fun, like last year's meet-up at Casselmans.

Sometimes they were less successful, like the Thanksgiving hotel buffet with no stuffing.

A West Virginia Thanksgiving is not in the cards this year. We'll go there to visit family next weekend, but we're shooting for a day when the Shoney's is open.

My parents and siblings are otherwise engaged this year, leaving my household at loose ends this year for Thanksgiving. Accordingly, my only goal is to honor my three conditions for a happy holiday. These are:

1. No one cries.
2. No one gambles away the grocery money.
3. No one throws foodstuffs or storms away from the event in a passion.

Without the civilizing influence of my elder kin, past Thanksgivings in our home have ended in screaming matches, casino visits, and cold stuffing.

(Is this just us? Surely you too have tales of holiday horror to share.)

Still, I have hopes of better times this year.

The fact that my kids expect to see a turkey and stuffing on the table is a major civilizing influence. It's a low-pressure chance to come together around the table that we don't always have.

I am grateful that we have a table, and a roof over our heads, and salaries that pay for a feast. I am grateful that we are a family, dysfunctional as we may be.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, and thanks for reading!