Saving America, One Turkey Leg at a Time: The Thanksgiving Dinner Table is the Best Cure for Toxic Loneliness

~ Laura

Those small groups were seen as a symbol of strength, individuality and modernity, a contrast to those messy immigrants with their sloppy spaghetti meals with all the crazy aunts and uncles. However, our individualism has now become a source of early death from diabetes, suicide, and dementia.

It’s a short skip from individualism to loneliness. And American are just lonely now, with growing levels of toxic loneliness since the pandemic. Studies show that loneliness causes more than sadness. It also shortens a person’s life span with a host of diseases.

America has a lonely problem. And the best way to solve that problem is to have tons of people over to YOUR house for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Yes, I’m making YOU solve this problem with our culture. 

Seventeen adults, one toddler, a dog, and a cat will sit around my dinner table at 4:00 tomorrow, which may be our largest crowd yet. How are we doing it? Hello to being the oldest born daughter with slight OCD tendencies. I am insanely organized. Let me share my tricks, so you, too, can solve America’s lonely problem.

Read more at Apt. 11D, the newsletter

Published by Laura

7 thoughts on “Saving America, One Turkey Leg at a Time: The Thanksgiving Dinner Table is the Best Cure for Toxic Loneliness”

  1. I’m in awe at your organizing ability (as well as your whole life management talents).
    I cook Christmas dinner for 8-10 every year – and by the end of it I am absolutely exhausted.
    It’s not a particularly complicated menu (family favourites over the years) – and all the desserts are cold – remember it’s mid-summer for us in NZ (Italian white peach and raspberry trifle, pavlova, fresh berries) & cheese for the non-sweet-eating sister.

    But I’m not cooking in my own kitchen. I make it at my Mum’s place (the family member with a large entertaining space). However, she doesn’t cook. So I have to remember to bring absolutely *everything* with me – right down to peppercorns, and egg-beater for the cream.

    I totally get the oldest daughter syndrome. My sister happily delegates everything to me. And I can’t outsource dishes for her to bring/make as she can randomly get in a snit with us, and decide not to turn up. My brother is strategically established on the other side of the world – so his Christmas contribution is a phone call to Mum (and magically he’s the favoured son – calling all the way from London!) [snark]

    I’m teaching Mr 16 how to prep and cook some of the dishes. He’s pretty helpful for a mid-teenager – but as you know teaching someone takes longer than just doing it yourself….

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    1. Ooh, that trifle sounds amazing.

      Families are complicated. Some of us end up doing more than the others, and it’s all okay until we think about it too hard. So, that’s why we include alcohol at these events, too.

      Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Thanks for showing up through all the ups and downs in my life.

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  2. Happy Thanksgiving! I made the turkey yesterday afternoon and a pumpkin custard last night (new recipe, looks good! and simpler than my favorite pumpkin pie recipe). Enjoy the large crowd!

    Just had a discussion on bluesky about the future of my field. Lots of academics on there, including poli sci people- you might enjoy it.

    af

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  4. I agree with you on the importance of gatherings. My wife and I used to host holiday meals and other dinner parties before the pandemic and it seems that hasn’t really come back. This year we hosted Thanksgiving for a small group and it was incredibly fun and left a warm feeling. I enjoy the planning and my wife and I have the turkey dinner down to a science so it’s not too difficult.

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