Facts and figures for Thanksgiving 2024

With Thanksgiving coming up Thursday, all kinds of Thanksgiving memories are flooding my mind.

After my dad passed away, I’d go to Wenatchee, Washington, to prepare the Thanksgiving dinner for my mom and me. I remember leaving after work for the three-and-a-half hour drive. Getting there late, I’d be making cranberries late into the night, wondering if they were going to thicken.

Sometimes I’d take a turkey in a cooler and prepare it like my mom did. Get up early, cook the giblets for the stuffing, and have dinner about 4 p.m. in the afternoon.

I remember when I was a young married woman, waiting for my mom fabulous holiday dinner. I wondered if it tasted so good because it was served so late in the afternoon.

My mom was a fabulous baker. Her homemade rolls were marvelous. Homemade bread, too.

Then, there were the many Thanksgiving dinners when my daughters were little and I was the chief chef with all the tasks to do. Exhausting.

And, lately, Thanksgivings with my beautiful daughters and their families in Madrid and Sacramento.

My daughter Lisa likes the American stuffing in the box, rather than the traditional stuffing my mom made with hamburger buns and giblets, so we’d go to the American Store in Madrid to get the dressing and pies.

We paid 50 euros once for a pecan pie. After that, we figured out how to make pumpkin pies with Spanish ingredients.

For Thanksgiving this year, I’ll be having dinner with friends.

Eighty-seven percent of Americans say they’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving Thursday, with 20 percent of those saying they’ll be taking part in a Friendsgiving gathering, according to projections by WalletHub, a personal finance website.

For other Thanksgiving facts and figures from WalletHub, see below:

Whatever your plans, have a great Thanksgiving this year.