For many CMU students, Thanksgiving is a time to travel home to see their loved ones, eat turkey and watch football, but most importantly it is a time to be around family.

With the stress of college, upcoming finals and the seemingly endless election cycle, being with family can help you realize your stress is only going to be short-lived.

Unfortunately, there are circumstances some years, where families are apart from each other and, sometimes, people do not have a family to turn to. But over the years I have discovered family does not have to be blood-related.

My first memories of Thanksgiving were of my parents, brother and I when we would spend the holiday in a small Texas town with a population of 80 people with my mom’s family.

 During these times, my aunt and uncle along with his family would also travel up and as soon as we all arrived, we would then devour my grandmother’s cooking. Her cooking was always one of the highlights for me, especially her pumpkin pie, which I always wanted for my entire meal, but my mom would never let me.

However, all good things must come to an end. My grandparents have passed away since then alongside my uncle’s wife and Thanksgiving dinners have never been the same.

My dad has been out of town one year and my brother has missed a few because he could not afford a plane ticket from Houston, Texas, to Nebraska or here. Thankfully, my family and I have found other people to start a new “family” and new memories.  

One of the new people is a close family friend, who worked with my dad. Even though they don’t work together anymore, we still have had Thanksgiving dinner with him almost every year, since 2007.  

And a new memory for me is going to Black Friday shopping with my high school friend’s family at Wal-Mart at midnight.

While we were shopping, my friend’s dad and I were swallowed by the mob of people at the store and we were separated from the rest of his family and my girlfriend at the time. Nothing is crazier than searching for people when other customers are searching for great deals at low, low prices.

These new people showed me that the idea of family does not have to be blood related. Hell, even TV shows like “Community” showed that seven characters with completely different backgrounds can come together and make their own family.

So for this Thanksgiving, enjoy some turkey, stuffing or pumpkin pie, watch some football and whether you are with your family or not, make sure you let them know how thankful you are to have them in your life. Because soon, you may have a new family for Thanksgiving.