While I love cooking daily for the two of us, I was suddenly bereft at the thought of not experiencing the bustle of family seated around a big table heavily laden with food. What were we to do?

Enter a lovely suggestion from a couple of our friends who live not far from us in Orlando. “What about celebrating Friendsgiving with us?” they queried.

“Friendsgiving? What’s that??” I asked, with my Sheldon-like tendency to resist change.

It’s as simple and as wonderful as a group of friends (rather than relatives) getting together to eat and give thanks for the bounty and goodwill that we share. When I looked into this relatively recent alternative tradition, even though the term “Friendsgiving” had not been used until around 2007, I was delighted to see mention of 1973’s A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving as a model for it.

We’ve recently celebrated our fifth Friendsgiving with various groups of friends of ours who live in different Florida cities. It’s always a joyous occasion and such fun to plan, as we each bring something to the occasion. One of my non-food contributions is a toast: “To friendship, flourishing, and freedom in Florida!”

This year, I’m especially grateful for having a growing circle of friends in Florida, most of whom are fellow New York transplants. I’m thankful to this year’s hostess who cooked up a storm and invited us into her home. All she wanted us to bring were our appetites, good cheer, and stories of what we each have been up to this year.

I’ve come to look forward to and love Friendsgiving, but I’m also grateful that each December we fly up to New York to spend the holidays with our beloved families. One foot in the old and one in the new is a good place to stand.