The new neighborhood was pretty cool. Shea was starting to make some friends. Most of the friends were way older than she was, like 70 years older, but that was okay. Shea liked knitting with Mrs. Vocelli and baking bread with Mr. Van Wyke. She was learning Spanish from Mrs. Rodriguez.

Shea hadn’t been thrilled about moving to the small town with her mom and dad. They were far away from Grandma and Grandpa, and even farther from Aunt Nina and Uncle Joe. But it hadn’t been too bad. Until Thanksgiving.

They had always spent Thanksgiving with their family in the city. Grandma cooked the turkey and Grandpa baked the pies. Aunt Nina set the table with beautiful place cards. She wrote each of their names in calligraphy. Uncle Joe mostly watched football. But he also helped wash the dishes while singing show tunes.

“Can we go home for Thanksgiving?” Shea asked her parents.

“We are home,” they said.

“Can Grandma and Grandpa come here?”

“Not this year, honey.”

“How about if we do something different this year?” her mom suggested. “Let’s have a Friendsgiving.” Mom explained that they could invite their friends to celebrate with them. They would find other people in town who didn’t have any family to be with on the holiday, and they would be together.

Shea’s family started preparing for their Friendsgiving. Her dad took over cooking the turkey and her mom baked the pies. Shea practiced calligraphy. She wrote the letters over and over with a special pen until she got the hang of it. Then she made the place cards. They weren’t quite as beautiful as Aunt Nina’s, but she was happy with them.

When Thanksgiving arrived, all of their new friends came to celebrate. Mr. Van Wyke brought some of his homemade bread and Mrs. Rodriguez shared her famous pupusas.

“Thank you for inviting us,” said Mrs. Vocelli. “I haven’t had turkey and pie in years. I usually spend the day alone because my children and grandchildren live so far away.” Shea was glad they could make other people’s day happy. And, she was surprised to realize, she was happy too.

When the guests left, she gave her parents a hug to thank them for having the Friendsgiving celebration. Then she helped them clear the table.

“Time to do the dishes,” said her dad.

“Turn on some show tunes!” said her mom. And so they did.