As the holiday season approaches and students head home for Thanksgiving break, Friendsgiving is transforming into a tradition to reunite childhood friends.
Friendsgiving is a spin on Thanksgiving that is celebrated with friends, instead of solely family. Katherine Williams, an undecided freshman, has celebrated Friendsgiving for the past two years.
“My mom thought of the idea … when my brother was coming home from college for Thanksgiving his freshman year. We invite our closest high school friends.” she said.
Friendsgiving was first mentioned on Urban Dictionary in 2009. However, in 2014, more than 75,000 Facebook events with the word Friendsgiving had been created, according to an article by CNN’s Heather Long. Evite, a digital invitation service, reported a 29 percent increase this year in the number of events for which its Friendsgiving designs are being used, according to ABC News.
Celebrating annually each Thanksgiving-eve, “we talk about old memories from high school and the new ones we've all made in college,” Katherine said.
As the woman who pioneered this celebration in her Shaker Heights home right outside of Cleveland, Megan Williams, Katherine’s mom, said it was a “spur of the moment” idea.
“My son had graduated from high school, and his family of friends were getting ready to go off to college that August,” Megan said. “I thought the next time they will be back would be Thanksgiving break, so I thought, ‘wouldn't it be great to have dinner for the kids’ ... and for me.”
With the task of cooking the requested meal of chicken parmesan, caesar salad, garlic bread and homemade brownies, Megan begins preparation at 12 p.m. each year in order to have food on the table by 6:30 p.m.
“One of my favorite parts of the evening is always when I hear the front door open, they come in and say ‘hello' or ‘I'm here’ in that familiar voice,” she said. “My next favorite part is (to) be an observer for the evening. I listed to them catching up, sharing experiences, college life, laugh about old times and new and of course taking selfies.”
Emily Barbus, a freshman studying journalism, said that her Friendsgiving began when her friend suggested the idea.
“There's a group message with me and 11 of my friends back at home, and everyone in that (group) is invited,” she said.
As the celebration commences on Black Friday, “we're going to have a potluck dinner where everyone just brings their favorite food,” Barbus said. “We're going to have food ranging from cheesy potatoes to KD, which is my friend's unique ice cream concoction.”
Barbus said “the idea of sitting down for an hour or so to eat food and catch up sounded like the perfect way to spend our short break together.”
“These kids have been a part of my life and my kids for the five to six years in so many ways,” Megan said. “There were not many days that I would come home from work and one, two or even five kids would be in the house. Hanging out, laughing, watching TV, playing video games, talking or even studying. So I now host 20-24 college kids every year on (Friendsgiving).”
