Ah, Thanksgiving. This time of year always brings pleasant memories of holidays past and allows me to look forward with anticipation to the upcoming season of family get-togethers. When I was a student at Oberlin back in the ’80s, things were a bit different for us around the holidays than they are now for you. A quick look at Oberlin’s website just revealed several things to me:

1. There is an event called Thanksgiving Recess, during which it appears that classes are cancelled on the day after Thanksgiving.
2. Students can look for and offer car rides to other states. “Looking for a ride eastward! Gotta see da fam!”
3. Alcohol Awareness Week is only three days long (Nov. 18–20).

When I was a student, classes were cancelled only on Thursday. You were expected to attend your classes on Friday. This seemed rather draconian to me, but as an inveterate rule-follower, I abided. I spent my freshman-year Thanksgiving on campus, eating turkey and the trimmings at Dascomb. I’m sure I had a pleasant time with my friends, but it wasn’t the same thing as being in a home with family.

The next year, my friend Steve invited me to join him on a day trip to Akron, where we would share Thanksgiving dinner with family friends of his. This was nice, but I felt some trepidation. I had met this family once before, and they had impressed me as being very aware of current events. To ready myself for stimulating conversation over mashed potatoes, I spent the week before Thanksgiving reading The New York Times cover to cover (remember, this is before the internet), in order to catch up on goings-on in the world.

I wanted to be able to keep pace with the conversation, and not embarrass myself by not knowing an important bit of news, such as this item from The New York Times (“Vigil for Flying Saucer Brings Death to Women,” The New York Times, Nov. 19, 1982): “A man and woman apparently waiting for a flying saucer spent a month in a car in the snowy wilderness of northeastern Minnesota before the woman died and the man fell unconscious, the authorities say.” I can’t say I remember reading that particular story, but I do recall that I did an acceptable job of following the conversation at the dinner table. It was very stressful, though!

The next year, when I was a junior (third-year to you), I knew I had had enough of this rule-following and family-missing, and I decided that I was going to join my folks in Westport, CT, where we often celebrated Thanksgiving with my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Brian. I wanted it to be a surprise, however, and this is where things got tricky. First of all, I figured I needed to fly. There was no website to look for shared car rides, and besides, we were all supposed to be back on campus Friday morning, so not too many people were even posting signs offering rides.

Problem was: I had no money in the bank with which to purchase a plane ticket. And believe it or not, most of us did not have credit cards. ATM cards, yes (they had been around for only a couple of years); credit cards, no. I called another relative, Aunt Sally, and asked her if she could mail me a check for two hundred dollars, which I would repay sometime down the road. She did, I bought the ticket, and next thing you know, I landed at Kennedy Airport on Thanksgiving Eve.

I currently live in Brooklyn, and can comfortably get myself around by public transportation, but as an Oberlin student who had grown up in central Pennsylvania, finding my way to Grand Central Terminal to board a Metro-North train to Connecticut was a little challenging. I did it, though, and when the train let me off at the Westport station, I felt a great sense of accomplishment. I knew the route to the house, and whether it was due to my frugality or a lack of cabs, I decided to walk. In the dark. Carrying my heavy suitcase on my head. When I finally rang the bell of my aunt’s house, and heard the exclamations of surprise from my relatives as the opening door revealed this unexpected guest, I knew I had made the right decision. It was my most memorable Thanksgiving ever.

During my last year at Oberlin, I lived off campus, and decided to stay in town and prepare a Thanksgiving dinner at home with friends. It was delicious, comfortable, and easy. I hope that you enjoy your upcoming four-day Thanksgiving Recess, whether you spend it with family or friends, in Oberlin or away!

–Sarah Anderson Richards, OC ’85