All of the big Black Friday announcements have started rolling in and I can’t help but wonder what the next generation’s take on Thanksgiving traditions will be.

For me, as I assume is the case with many of our readers, Thanksgiving has always been about spending time with friends and family.

Back when I lived in Georgia, Thanksgiving went toe-to-toe with Christmas in regards to the number of people you could cram into one house at a single time.

All of the aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents would gather at the home of whomever drew the shorts straw that year, bringing with them enough food to sink the Titanic. The adults would fill the dining room, kitchen and living room with loud laughter and conversation while the kids ran around playing in the yard.

Since the Thanksgiving feast was such a big production, it usually happened sometime between when lunch and dinner would usually be served. We’d all line up at the makeshift buffet and fill our plates. Folks would go back for seconds or thirds while the ever-present hum of 20 conversations going on at once danced across the air.

After the meal, we’d all sit around and talk about how we had eaten way too much and, next year, we were going to try and practice some restraint. That was, of course, a bold-faced lie.

After everyone was done complaining about having eaten too much, that was when the dessert would come out. Of course nobody “could even think about touching pie right now,” at which point we’d all line up and grab a slice anyway.

Afterward, the kids usually retreated to the yard where the laughter and fun would continue, though admittedly at a slower pace than before.

Inside, the adults played cards or dozed in their chairs while some holiday movie went by mostly unnoticed in the background.

Eventually, we’d all start to say our long goodbyes and head in our separate directions.

Those were some good times, and I can’t help but wonder if the kids coming up today will have similar recollections, mainly because “Black Friday” now officially begins on Thanksgiving Thursday.

I have a genuine fear that fond memories like the ones I have will be replaced by the following:

It was another crazy Thanksgiving this year. Mom and Dad woke us up bright and early so we could video chat with Granny and Papa before Thanksgiving breakfast.

It feels like we eat earlier and earlier as the years go on. This year, we had turkey, stuffing and all the usual trimmings by 8 a.m.

After that, we grabbed our backpacks full of snacks and bottles of water and loaded the car with our folding chairs. We were in line at Best Buy by 10 a.m., a full eight hours before they opened their doors for the “can’t miss” sales. We were still pretty far back in the line, though, so we’ll have to try and get there earlier next year.

We managed to make it to 12 stores before Thanksgiving was over, a new family record!

I’m looking forward to tomorrow, when we can finally dig into all of those leftovers from Thanksgiving breakfast.