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Opinion | This doctor's holiday advice: Have a virtual Thanksgiving dinner

In my primary care office, patients have asked about my plans for Thanksgiving. Normally, there would be a gathering of about 45 family members at my parents' home; this year will be different. Some patients have made plans to downsize gatherings. Others, still haven’t decided.  The questions have been numerous,  “What’s the real risk?”   “What if I get tested before I leave?” “Most of us don’t go anywhere; we should be OK, right?”  The only prescription I could 100 percent safely give was to have a virtual Thanksgiving. 

The controversy about gathering for Thanksgiving is stressful for families but the advances in technology have given us safe options to avoid spreading the coronavirus.  It’s also important to outweigh the mental health challenges with the spread of the virus as well. Often the past gives us ideas for the future, so let’s learn from history.

About 100 years ago, every corner of the globe was fighting the 1918 flu pandemic. In fall 1918, Seattle Mayor Ole Hanson decided to shut down every indoor public assemblage in Seattle, including schools, theaters, churches and dance halls. The mayor's highly controversial move was published on the front page of the Seattle Daily Times. Five weeks of lockdown were ordered in hopes that slowing the virus would give families opportunities to gather for the upcoming holidays. The shutdown worked in controlling the virus. Perhaps that’s why Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is also taking similar precautions. Michigan hospitals are nearing capacity. On Friday alone, there were a record 9,779 confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported and 53 deaths, putting Michigan on the list of high-risk states. 

In 1918, the shutdown was a bleak and difficult time. Self-imposed isolation carried a burden. There was no television or internet. The changing seasons meant the evenings were getting longer and the days were shorter. People were suffering from anxiety, depression and social isolation. In 2020, COVID-19 has brought a wave of similar mental health challenges. But thanks to technology, we don’t have to live in the dark and gloom of 1918.

The bright computer screens and smartphones can be full of life. It’s a great substitute to safely laugh, eat and enjoy Thanksgiving with family near and far. The company Zoom is even offering free video calls to make virtual gathers  an option to anyone with internet access. In addition, people are able to meet mental health professionals for counseling via video-visits as well as their doctors. Entertainment and information is relatively available via television, Netflix and Prime Video. We have online shopping options to continue holiday shopping and Black Friday deals are available at the click of a button. We have a lot of options and so much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving, especially our health. 

With the isolation people are feeling, I don’t advocate spending Thanksgiving alone, but history does show us that avoiding large gatherings, masking, physical distancing and hand-washing are the ways to control this virus. Instead, have smaller, more intimate gatherings and then bring in the chaos of large family fun virtually. I plan to still watch Detroit’s Thanksgiving parade from the comfort of my home, bring out the finest dinnerware for a meal with just my mother and father, (three dishes are easier to wash than 45). Then later in the evening, I will zoom in with my cousins. It’s the first Thanksgiving that I will be apart from my sister but I’ll still get to see her smiling face and those of my silly nephews on screen.  

By a long shot, Thanksgiving 2020 will be challenging but when one zooms in, we can get a clearer picture of how blessed we are to have so many choices to still make the day safe and special. COVID-19 doesn’t change the purpose of Thanksgiving which is ultimately to give thanks for all that we have. If we shift our minds to a lens of gratitude rather than of doom, we can be resilient in the face of adversity just like our forefathers were on the very first Thanksgiving. 

 

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