Thanksgiving is here! It’s a time to be thankful for friends, family, and good health. But it’s also a day infamous for its messiness — family drama, politically intense conversations, and those burnt side dishes we all wish we could forget. And so, KCRW asked listeners to share some of their most unforgettable holiday stories.
Isabel Havens recalls the first time her now-brother-in-law joined her family for Thanksgiving.
“My dad decided this year that he was going to bake a pumpkin pie for everyone. My dad has a super long list of amazing skills and talents. I don't know if I would put baking at the top of that list. Sorry, dad,” Havens admits.
Tiffany Root recounts a tale of wine-tinted debauchery that ended in an unfamiliar place in her hometown of Salem, Illinois, on one Christmas Eve in the 1990s.
“We ended up at my mom's house, just sitting there, drinking cheap wine out of plastic cups and listening to the Elvis Presley Christmas album. … [We were] both riled up and feeling that old adolescent desire to do something rebellious,” Root shares.
Katie Shanks shares the aftermath of the mysterious voicemail that would change the course of their entire family.
“It's 2010 — the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. I'm 22 and in the throes of midterm projects. I have a missed call from an unlisted number and a new voicemail message. As an elder millennial, I wonder who even leaves voicemails anymore?”
Have an unforgettable holiday story you just can’t shake? Submit them below.