Over the years, my work became both my vocation and avocation. Since I enjoyed it so much, I never felt a great need to go outside for relaxation. Nevertheless, I became an avid photographer and traveler. Possibly my love for travel stems from the early years when my family seldom went away on vacation.

I just see too many people retire and say, 'I'm going to take off, travel, spend time with my family' and they are just miserable. They end up dying. People who work and stay active, and like what they are doing, live longer.

People don't understand that where I come from, everyone is either a convict, been in jail, been in a gang, is a hooligan of some sorts, but those are my brothers, my family and the people that I travel with. Those are the people that I roll with.

The hardest part is to travel, and to be away from your family.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are the two times a year that usually my whole family gets together.

The fall season brings Thanksgiving and the beginning of the holiday season. Sharing meals with family and friends are a key element of this joyful time of the year. We are faced with an abundance of food, and can easily gain extra pounds as a result.

Thanksgiving is a big one for our family.

I am grateful to have my life back and for the friends and family who never gave up on me, for a God who was there when I was ready to find him. I am grateful for so much, that every day, one day at a time, is Thanksgiving.

When planning a Thanksgiving menu, it's always a balancing act between representing all the classics and satisfying all the members of your family.

Thanksgiving Day, we do a huge lunch. Big family, like, 60 people, we get together. Everybody brings a covered dish, everybody brings a dessert, and we go all out.

I know, especially in my family, people's feelings get hurt over the tiniest things. I'm sure that's true in every family. But, for instance, one year, I came a little bit late to Thanksgiving, and I was supposed to bring a salad. And I just brought a bag of lettuce, and put it in a bowl. Five years later, I heard that my mom was incensed.

I always love the soapy conflicts between somebody's family of origin and their new family - 'Do I have Thanksgiving at my husband's parents' house, or at my parents' house?'

My interactions with my family members are all one-to-one. We don't all get together for Thanksgiving dinner. But I can sit and tell any one of them about a conversation that I just had with the other one, and they're all curious and interested and respectful.

When my family was living in Tokyo, there was a year when we couldn't go back to the States for Thanksgiving, and we went to Seoul. Mandu is a highly satisfying substitute for turkey and trimmings.

What I love about Thanksgiving is that it's purely about getting together with friends or family and enjoying food. It's really for everybody, and it doesn't matter where you're from.

I would love four children because I have a very small family, so I want those big Thanksgiving dinners.

I love Thanksgiving because it's a holiday that is centered around food and family, two things that are of utmost importance to me.

I think I'm going to give my baby her first food on Thanksgiving, make her some organic sweet potato. I'm very excited! It's going to be a big day and my husband is in charge of the turkey - he's the chef of the family!

My restaurants are never opened on Thanksgiving; I want my staff to spend time with their family if they can. My feeling is, if I can't figure out how to make money the rest of the year so that my workers can enjoy the holidays, then I don't deserve to be an owner.

I make a fabulous tofurkey for Thanksgiving. My Mexican-Italian family can't tell the difference.

In deference to American traditions, my family put our oven to rare use at Thanksgiving during my childhood, with odd roast-turkey experiments involving sticky-rice stuffing or newfangled basting techniques that we read about in magazines.

In our family, mom and dad are Longhorns, our first two kids are Aggies and we're hoping our last one is a Longhorn. It gives us family fun on Thanksgiving Day.

My tradition, as an adult, is to have an open-door policy on Thanksgiving. I always host, and I welcome absolutely anyone into my home. I think it's really special. If people are going through hard times or not getting along well with their family, they flock to my house. And I'll have my tree up!

Across Central Virginia, the traditions of Thanksgiving bring us closer together with those we love. We gather with family and close friends, we share memories and laughter, and we give thanks for the profound blessing of living in the United States.