Memories of Thanksgivings past

Alejandra Yañez | THE RIDER

Ruben Loza, a mass communication sophomore, remembers a Black Friday incident that got a bit heated.

Loza said he was trying to purchase 20 TVs with his uncle, who was buying them to give to his employees as Christmas presents, when a man came up to him and started yelling, “I want one TV! I want one TV!” 

He said the man was angry that Loza was guarding 20 TVs and that the situation became chaotic.

“I wasn’t mad at that moment,” Loza said. “I was just defensive because I felt like that was my property. And if I want to buy 20 TVs, then I can buy them, you know.”

He is one of a couple of UTRGV campus community members who shared their funniest and most heartwarming Thanksgiving memories.

Asked if he had ever experienced any awkward conversations at the dinner table on Thanksgiving, Loza replied that some of his family members like to make comments such as, “Ay, mijo, te miras muy gordito.” 

Loza said he is not looking forward to this topic at the dinner table this year.

He has helped his parents prepare Thanksgiving dinner since he was a boy. 

Together, they make turkey, marshmallow salad, mashed potatoes, pineapple cake and many other dishes.

Loza said his favorite part of the meal is the turkey. 

He said his favorite part of the holiday is that all his family members from out of town all come together to celebrate. 

“Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays,” Loza said. “For me, Thanksgiving is the best time of the year because it’s when we celebrate life. I know we should be grateful every day, but that day, there’s something about that day that, I don’t know, we’re just more thankful and we are so united. … There’s unity, there’s love, there’s fights on Black Friday, but that’s the usual.”

He said he is thankful for all his UTRGV professors who have helped him make the transition from high school to college life and to the student mentors who have helped tutor him.

“I love them all so, so, so much,” Loza said. “God bless them and happy Thanksgiving to everyone.”

Amy Hay, a UTRGV associate history professor, recalls when she first broke the news to her mother that she had become a vegetarian after going off to college.

Hay said she was hesitant to tell her mother that she wouldn’t be eating turkey but was pleasantly surprised when her mother prepared a separate meal for her.

“She ended up making dressing without the turkey,” she said. “It didn’t have any turkey broth or anything, which I thought was really sweet.”

Hay said it is hard to have a tradition that is dependent on meat when being a vegetarian. Luckily, she found a butternut squash recipe that she loved and said it is now part of her own tradition.

“When I finally found a recipe that felt like fall, felt like a good holiday dish, it made me really happy,” Hay said. “I just regret that I didn’t find it when my mom was still alive so that I could have shared it with her because I think she would have really loved it.”

She said she found a new respect for her mother when she had to prepare Thanksgiving dinner on her own one year.

“You’ve got so many dishes, and you kind of have to plan it out because, like, I only have one oven,” Hay said. “So, like, I had to do what my mom would do, which was make the potatoes and then put them in the microwave to keep them warm. I had no idea how much organizational skill you have to have because you’ve got the major meal and then you’ve got all these side dishes. … It was amazing to me how much work my mom had been doing all this time, and I had no clue. I was just happy to eat the last results.”

She said one year, when she was making Thanksgiving dinner for her friends, she was trying to make corn on the cob, but didn’t know how.

“I had to call my mom and ask, ‘Mom, how do I cook this?’” Hay said.