It's all about the salad bowl

I've been reading numerous posts regarding Thanksgiving traditions and how everyone has their own trepidations of the holiday or other families have the perfect holiday and everyone gets along splendidly like the Brady Bunch and how the family that prays together stays together. Yes, yes, this is all very true but in my family, when it comes to holidays, its all about the salad bowl.

I'm not talking about pretty Aunt Mamie's giant salad bowl that holds your favorite spinach and strawberry salad but rather the cutthroat competition that involves charades, word association and, as my brother and I call it, word vomit. See salad bowl is a game and not just any game but a true test of knowledge, acting ability and familial connection. I could explain the game here but that would take too long and well, you just wouldnt get it. You have to experience it.

Now, my family is not perfect. We have issues. We tend to be loud, we tend to be on the overly competitive side and we tend to get somewhat sensitive over comments made during the heat of the battle. But in the end, when all is said and done, we crack a few beers and laugh about how my uncle tried to get us to guess "Yoga for Kids" by rolling around on the floor in the fetal position. Or how my cousin chose the word virgin and we watched with delight as my father awkwardly tried to demonstrate the word. Before you start to think, what an immature, honky, disgusting family, I will also mention how Homer, magic realism, binary fission and gerund managed to make it into the bowl.

You see, salad bowl connects our family. The young and the old. And we dont just play it on holidays, we play it every time there are at least 5 family members present. And since we live in close proximity and insist on getting together every time an opportunity presents itself, we play a lot of salad bowl.

We learn more about eachother in those 2 hours than we could sitting around the dinner table. There is no better way to get to know your cousin than when the game is tied and he has to make you guess the phrase: Meningitis is really getting me down by only using one word. There is no better feeling that high fiving your brother after he scores 15 points in one round in the hardest stage of the game. Or laughing hysterically when your uncle picks the names of three people he knew in high school and then forgetting what he wrote down leaving you and the rest of your teammates in a huge bind as you try to make them guess the name Ezra Chupp.

There are moments of weakness but they also bring about glimpses of character. Like when your 10 year old cousin is trying to make his team guess the term 12th Man and your dad gets up and prances around like an idiot just to help him out.

Our salad bowl game is a tradition. And I believe it makes us stronger as a family. Sure there are moments of frustration, words being said, names being thrown around but in the end, what family doesnt have those brief moments? Fortunately, we have a little friendly competition to use as an outlet and even if tempers flare in the living room, they are extinguished outside as two opposing players instantly bond over Uncle Howie's hilarious interpretation of Julia Childs in the kitchen or your own over the top impression of Cyndi Lauper.

We love the game. We love eachother and thats what its all about in the end. A family is nothing but a group of people who have deep unconditional love for one another. In the end, the family that plays together, stays together. And we plan on playing together for a long, long time.