⁘¨¨•••Happy Reading•••¨¨⁘

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Wilsea is one of the cities located in the northern part of the American continent. This city is very beautiful, serene, and peaceful. Many Americans or tourists choose to vacation in this place. It is a small town that has a variety of tourist attractions from beaches, plantations, and farms, to villas that directly face the beautiful mountain scenery.

Joseph's eyes stare straight ahead cleaning up the fallen leaves in his yard, given that it is already the turn of the fall season. From a distance Joseph saw several vehicles and tourist buses passing by, indicating that there would be a celebration this month.

Ting... Ting...

A calendar notification was displayed on his cell phone. There was a date marked November 23. 'Ah, in two weeks, thanksgiving, yeah...' Joseph thought as he wondered what his mother would cook for this celebration.

Joseph or more fully Joseph Hall was a 27-year-old young man who worked as a self-employed man opening a bakery in the town square. Although this bakery is still relatively new, his bakery is very popular with various groups of children, teenagers, and even adults. Because Wilsea was a relatively small town, most of the people who lived in the town knew each other.

"Lol, Jo... Why are you still here and not at the store?" asked Eliza, Joseph's mother who had just returned from buying groceries at the market. Eliza Hall was a single mother left behind by the man who had impregnated her. Even so, Eliza loved Joseph dearly and would do anything to make Joseph's life more comfortable.

Joseph, who heard that his mother had just returned from the market, immediately picked up his mother's groceries. "Today is the 100th day, Ma... I'm closing the shop for the holidays," he replied while arranging the groceries on the dining table. She always closed her bakery on the 100th day to take a break from the stress of her work.

"Oh, yes. I forgot...."

"Guess! Guess! I ran into Anna earlier... Jax's mom, your best friend," Eliza said.

"Oh, yes..."

"Yes. Mama also invited her and Jax to celebrate Thanksgiving together, but they refused"

Joseph who heard that just fell silent. Usually, thanksgiving was a very special celebration for Jax and his family. Because Jax's grandparents are still descendants of the original Indian tribe which makes this Thanksgiving celebration more special in his family, sometimes they invited Joseph and Eliza to celebrate together. But this year was even more different as Sikya's grandmother passed away on November 23rd. 'Is Jax still grieving?' Joseph thought.

"Jo, maybe during the celebration you should accompany Jax. Poor him..." Eliza's comment broke his reverie.

"Yes, Maa..."

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A few days after Eliza's talk, Joseph went to Jax's house along with some of their group friends. There was Ryan, Grace, and Alina, who were best friends from childhood. Ryan worked as a bank teller, Grace worked as a food caterer, and Alina worked as a pre-school teacher. The four of them wanted to see Jax's current condition.

Knock... Knock... Knock...

"Excuse me, Aunt Anna..."

"Hello, excuse me...?" said Joseph politely as he knocked on the door of Jax's family home.

"Oh, long time no see kids," said Anna who greeted him with her motherly face.

"Hello, auntie" greeted the four of them simultaneously.

"Is Jax there?" asked Grace.

"Oh, Jax is there, in his room" replied Anna with a sad look in her eyes.

The four of them went to Jax's room. His room was located on the second floor at the far end near his balcony. The four of them knocked on Jax's door and entered the room. As usual, his room was very neat with shelves of books from motivational books to novels. The point is that his room is very clean and tidy.

"Huh? Why are the four of you here?" wondered Jax.

"Hehehe, we're busy. The four of us came to visit you, really..." Alina was nervous.

Jax snorted, he knew why his friends had come. The look in his eyes felt sad. He felt that he was a cruel person who didn't want to burden his thoughts on the people he loved.

The four of them tried to talk to Jax, asking him about his current condition and what he was doing. They also invite laughter which makes Jax's mood slowly begin to improve. He still missed his grandmother and was still in a state of grief. However, seeing his friends trying to cheer him up, he was eager to move on and not be devastated by her death.

"...Hahaha... Thanks, guys, I feel a bit better. I'm sorry if I've been away from you guys all this time..." said Jax.

"Bro, you don't need to apologize, we all understand...," said Ryan. "Besides, if we were in your shoes, we'd do the same thing" They nodded in agreement.

'They're nice...' Jax thought. "Thanks, maybe this year I can celebrate Thanksgiving again..."

Their eyes were surprised and their faces became cheerful at Jax's words. "Well, then, how about we make something that Sikya's late grandmother would have liked?" suggested Joseph.

"Oh, that's right... Maybe we can mourn at the cemetery too..." said Grace who agreed with Joseph's suggestion.

Jax's eyes began to tear up at his friend's suggestion. ".... You... Well, I know one recipe from my late grandmother, pumpkin pie"

"Huu... The famous pumpkin pie...." Ryan commented.

"Wow, how exciting...," said Alina.

They all agreed to prepare the ingredients together and cook the pumpkin pie together. When they told Anna, she was very touched that her son was slowly trying to blend in. She was also grateful that Ryan, Joseph, Grace, and Alina still cared about Jax's health. They were even willing to stay overnight just to encourage their son.

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Thanksgiving coincides with November 23, which is a Thursday, usually during holidays such as Christmas, Easter, or other holidays. Joseph's bakery will operate only until noon. Joseph and his friends had already made an appointment to look for groceries before the 23rd, which was the day he did just that. Luckily for buying groceries for Thanksgiving, Eliza, Joseph's mother took the initiative to help out at the bakery.

"Welcome to... Oh. Mrs. Eliza, would you like to see the boss?" The welcome greeting from a young worker was cut off seeing Eliza arrived.

"Hi, Rain. Yes, you can call, Joseph," Eliza replied softly. Rain immediately went to call his boss, Joseph because of Eliza's arrival. Rain, who was a high school student, had performed so well that Joseph had put his trust in him. Joseph told Rain what things she should do while she was away from work.

Joseph went to a café near the traditional market. From the window, Ryan, Grace, Alina, and Jax were already at the café chatting for a while.

"Yo! It's been a long time, wait" Joseph greeted him towards where his friends were sitting.

"Nope. We just ordered," said Grace. "Can we get a drink before we go to the market?" he asked again.

"Ah, no. I just had lunch at the shop" Joseph refused politely.

"What about your shop? Is it closed?" asked Jax.

"Nope. I asked Mom for help, if I put all the burden on Rain, she'll get tired."

"Ah, that's right, he's still in high school..."

The five of them chatted for a while and planned what to buy. They planned to make two pumpkin pies, one for Sikya's grandmother's funeral and the other for their Thanksgiving meal. It just so happened that the celebration would be held at Jax's house.

"So, what do we need to buy?" asked Ryan.

Jax immediately flipped through the recipe his grandmother had left for him. "Hmm... we need flour, salt, brown sugar and granulated sugar, butter, pumpkin, cinnamon powder, ginger powder, clove powder, condensed milk, and liquid milk..."

"That's it, the ingredients according to the recipe"

"Jeeze, it's not explained. The ingredients we need to buy where we know the quantities..." Alina exclaimed suddenly.

All eyes turned towards Joseph since he was a baker and knew very well the measurements for making cakes and the like.

"Yes, yes. I know the right amount to make the pie, don't worry..." said Joseph chuckling at his four friends.

The five of them went straight to the traditional market and the first thing they bought were two large pumpkins. Coincidentally, there is only one pumpkin seller that everyone subscribes to. When they arrived at the pumpkin seller's place, there was a lot of exposure to various types of pumpkins.

"Sir, we would like to buy a pumpkin," Jax asked the vendor.

"Oh, yes, yes... Jax, right? Sikya's grandson?" the salesman asked.

Jax was shocked to hear the words of the seller he had no idea who the seller was. "How do you know my grandmother, sir?" asked Jax curiously.

"Oh, she's a regular at my shop. She used to tell me about you and your friends. How you were always causing trouble and even got caught skipping school just to buy an ice pack..." explained the seller with an amused laugh remembering Sikya's grandmother's memory.

Jax, who heard that became emotional, it turned out that there were many impacts of his grandmother's life on others not only for him and his family. It even made him feel ashamed that he hadn't celebrated Thanksgiving together for the past few years.

They also selected two medium pumpkins that were still good for $20/pcs but, because the sale was so good, they gave a discount of $30 for two pumpkins. Those who heard that were very happy.

Next, they headed to the supermarket to buy some ingredients and tools to make pumpkin pie as well as to buy turkey meat for Thanksgiving. They decided to go to Jax's house early in the morning around 9:00 to make the pie and help Anna, Jax's mom make the Thanksgiving meal.

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At around 8:30 am, Joseph came to Jax's house with some kitchen utensils from his bakery. By agreement, his mother suggested that the bakery be closed today because Rain also wanted to spend time at the orphanage where he lived.

"Excuse me, auntie, I brought some things to make a pie" greeted Joseph entering Jax's house.

After being let in, they immediately made the pie. Since they had no experience making pie, Joseph immediately taught them to make it according to the recipe given.

The very first thing they did was to make the pie crust. Combine the dry ingredients: Flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl. Add the butter and use a pastry whisk or fingers to mix to a flaky, sand-like consistency. Add water: Add the cold water a little at a time while stirring gently until a dough forms. Wrap the dough in plastic cling wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Bake the pie crust: After 30 minutes, roll out the dough and place it in a pie pan. Prick the bottom with a fork and weigh it down using dried beans or rice. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 15-20 minutes or until golden yellow.

Next, they make the filling in the pie. Prepare the pumpkin: If you haven't already, mash the pumpkin until smooth and set aside. Beat the eggs: Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and salt. Stir until well combined. Add other ingredients: Add pumpkin puree, condensed milk, and evaporated milk to the egg mixture. Stir until all ingredients are well combined.

The last step is to cook the pumpkin pie. Pour in the filling: After the pie shell has been baked, pour the filling mixture into the baked pie shell. Bake: Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for 45-55 minutes or until the center is set but still slightly jiggly when moved. Chill: After baking, allow the pie to cool before serving. It's best to let it sit in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to allow the flavors to infuse.

After cooking they immediately took one pumpkin pie to Sikya's grandmother's grave and prayed that they would be okay. Since that incident, the five of them have been excited to celebrate Thanksgiving and they carried on this tradition for the next few years.

⁘¨¨•••THE END•••¨¨⁘

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