18 years later

Last time I'd done an Aloia family Thanksgiving, the year was 2007. The next year, I was off in Italy and hosting my first expat extravaganza. Since then, I've picked up several degrees, an extra nationality, some thoroughly stamped passports, a husband, a dog, several cats, and a dream career in neurotechnology. We've also watched the world spiral as the nascent technology called social media brainwashed the world and led to the rise of ultra-right movements across continents. Needless to say, a few things have changed.

The impetus for the grand return? The Black Friday Eagles game. The extra layers and heat pads stuffed into our socks were hardly worth it: not only did the Birds lose, but they did so in record-setting style. The Eagles gave up the most rushing yards of any game in the past decade, and tying for the 9th most rushing yards given up in the entire team franchise history.

Thanksgiving 2025: the Birds, the food, one giant Hindu temple, and an American Hogwarts

The trip back east had its sweeter moments: We toasted Grandpa at our first Thanksgiving without him and played a recording of his (in)famous grace before chowing down around the table that's been hosting Aloia Thanksgiving perhaps as long as I've been missing. We explored America's largest Hindu temple over in Robbinsville, New Jersey. We toured Nico around America's best answer to Hogwarts in Princeton. We trekked up to New York where we squeezed in a meal of real New York pizza chez Sharon before catching our Monday morning flight out of JFK. And, surprisingly enough, we boarded the plane back home without any moments of drama to report, ticking off the obligatory annual holiday season family trip earlier than normal this year.