In my mid-twenties, I had my Thanksgiving Dinner in a truck stop in either New Mexico or Arizona; I don’t remember which. Now that I’m seventy, I will be alone for the first time since then. I expect I will eat some mashed potatoes and gravy because I’m having difficulty with new dentures and that kind of thing is all I can eat; after which I’ll spend a lot of time on the SDMB. Basically it will be like most days are. And yes, I know and understand there are other options open to me, even here in my retirement community. The prospect of being alone doesn’t bother me in the least; next year will be different.
Less than three months – compared to New Year’s to Memorial Day, which is five. That’s the stretch that grinds me down.
I’ll be here on SDMB. I prefer being on my own in general so the holidays are no different. Social interactions are far too stressful for me to be worth the effort.
Not this year, but I have been in the past. Didn’t bother me at all, I actually enjoyed it. Had a light breakfast, made some chicken, watched movies and football all day.
Last time I was alone for Thanksgiving (about 10 years ago), I think I made a frozen turkey dinner.
It doesn’t bother me too much if I happen to be alone…maybe I’ll post a rant about being an atheist around Christmas in a few weeks. 
Been there, done that in the past. My “celebration” consisted of eating sandwiches made from sliced deli turkey.
Until I moved to the Seattle area about 6 weeks ago, I was alone almost every Holiday for the last 5 years or so. It wasn’t any horrible depressing thing for me though. I usually enjoy and use my days off (especially those lovely 4 dayers) to sleep, relax and restore.
Since a majority of my paternal relatives live her, this will be the first year I’ve had one of those huge family dos for quite some time. I have an awesome family so both ways are good in my book.
One year I was alone. I invited a few single friends in the human service biz over and asked each of them to bring a client whom they knew would be alone for the day. Might have been a bit unethical. . .
We had good wimmin’s-time and I hope it lent some hope to people who were struggling.
One of my guests must have wanted a souvenir as she stole a monogrammed crystal wine glass. :eek:
Hope it wasn’t one of my friends. 
My plan is to be alone. I realized many years ago that I don’t enjoy the obligatory family holidays and that my family is a lot less horrible at a casual get-together than at Thanksgiving or Christmas.
This year a friend invited me for Thanksgiving and I may go because she’s having relationship issues that my presence might mitigate and because I like turkey.
What was that movie where the wife/mother scripted out the entire Christmas get-together? She picked out the family’s wardrobe, had assigned seating, Christmas carol singing, and even had scripted lines for her family to say on queue. She was determined to have the ‘perfect’ Christmas, based on the Yuppie paradigm of the late-'80s/early-'90s.
I have to work, but other than that, I will be completely alone. Wife away with her parents, no kids. I’ll just get drunk and watch football.
Joe
I hate Thanksgiving/Christmas. I always try to get a good excuse together to not have to attend. I volunteer for work or break my car on purpose just to get out of having to deal with my family.
This year the shop is shutting down for 5 straight days and I already let the cat out of the bag on that one, so I guess I’ll be breaking my car. I think I’ll put new break lines in it and rear suspension too. That should be enough to keep it out of commission for a few days.
It’s actually a good excuse too. A five day weekend? When else would I have the time to do a major overhaul on my vehicle?
My family, SO, and closest friends are either far away or have plans, so this will be my second Thanksgiving alone. I am absolutely looking forward to it. The novelty of having a major holiday alone-- with the menu and itinerary entirely up to me-- has not worn off.
So far, I’m having beef of some kind, gravy, Stove Top stuffing, Rice-a-Roni wild rice, and green beans. I’ll probably do some combination of napping, watching football, sewing, playing video games, and finishing some Netflix DVDs.
Me.
I’m not a big fan of family drama, so my preference is to stay home and cook my own holiday food. This year I got a 22lb turkey. I really like turkey. I make the whole shebang: stuffing, gravy, deviled eggs, sweet potatoes, broccoli & cheese, rolls & honey butter, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, sparkling cider, and eiswine & creme royal with raspberry sauce for dessert. I’m not a big fan of mashed potatoes or pumpkin pie.
I occasionally have someone over, but I’m alone this year. Been this way since I got my own place in college.
This will be my first family Thanksgiving in a decade. Normally I cook a huge meal and pig out for four days. I love cooking so Thanksgiving is a great excuse to cook for a day, eat it for 4 days and watch football nonstop. I’m hoping that having people over won’t cramp my style.
Yes.
Yes, sort of.
No.
Yes, and I don’t mind. It’s not the first time; won’t be the last. I only make it to my folks every couple/three years.
I’ll make a special meal. Special being something I don’t usually make for myself, but I haven’t decided what yet. Maybe enchiladas. And I’m likely to grab a turkey while they’re on sale so I can eat turkey sandwiches for a month.
Some decades ago, I was working on Thanksgiving in a 7-11 in Boulder, and heated up a turkey TV dinner in our cookie oven. We had to write down what we consumed at work and pay for it bi-weekly, and when my manager saw that, he scratched it off.
I’ll be all alone, not with friends, nor family, not even a goldfish. A friend of mine, who is also far from home, bounced the idea of having an orphan dinner at a restaurant that’s open. Another friend invited me to eat at her mother’s, which I don’t think I’ll do. (Her mother is kind of a miseryguts.) I might have orphan dinner and drinks with my friend, but I’ll probably just stay home by myself. I don’t mind at all. I might mind if I felt like I didn’t have any friends or family, but I don’t feel lonely. This will be my first Thanksgiving alone, and it’s not a big deal. I’ll probably make turkey, just because turkeys are usually on sale this time of year. Hmm, maybe I should buy one.
I will! But only because I’m going to have turkey with my mother on Saturday instead of Thanksgiving proper.
I’ll be playing World of Warcraft and tossing back whiskey. And then I’ll get to bed early (or alternatively stay up all night) so I can pick up a couple of Black Friday deals, then get the hell out of dodge. I have a 4 day weekend. Celebrate!
Heh, I have too many things to go to. We are considering taking separate cars so I can come back and do menagerie-care duty while the spousal unit goes on to still other get-togethers.
But years back, we were already a couple but we knew a bunch of people who were not only single but without available family. One was adopted and had moved half the length of the country from his (possibly estranged) adoptive family. Another was adopted and had been alienated from his adoptive family years before. Two had family living hundreds or thousands of miles away. Another one had family nearby but they weren’t really the type to celebrate holidays.
We felt sorry for them and started a local tradition of “Orphans’ Thanksgiving” and “Orphans’ Christmas” where all these folks without available families would come over to our place for food and games. It worked pretty well for a few years.
Several of the folks are married now or moved away (including one “orphan” who married an old friend of mine after I introduced them, and another who married an old friend of theirs later on), so there’s no more need for the “Orphans’” events, but we’re still very close to one of the orphans’ new families, and another one sends us cards now and then from their new home.