For Many, the Holiday Table Is Shifting. Found Family Is Filling the Seats.

For many of us, the holidays are a season of return. A return to childhood homes, to long-standing traditions, to the people who raised us in church pews, ball fields, and in the kitchen. Core memories thick with laughter and love. But the holidays can also be a season of disruption. Distance, grief, identity, non-traditional family structures, the rise of singlehood, complicated family histories, political misalignment, and the simple modern realities of adulthood mean that not everyone gets to — or chooses — to go “home.” Meaning more people are choosing a different kind of gathering: one built on care, presence, and the people who show up. According to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey, while many Americans plan to gather with loved ones for Thanksgiving, about five percent will spend i