AP reporters and photographers around the U.S. teamed up on Thanksgiving Day to deliver a standout package that showed the various ways Americans observed the holiday in the year that COVID-19 upended tradition.
Matt Sedensky, John Minchillo, Charlie Riedel, Heather Hollingsworth, Tamara Lush, Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, Rick Bowmer, Jae Hong, Eduardo Munoz Alvarez and Chris O'Meara fanned out to deliver intimate, heartbreaking and heartwarming tales from dinner tables around America. Regina Garcia Cano then pulled the narrative together with a top-notch edit from top stories editor Sarah DiLorenzo.
Nurse Jessica Franz, shows a photo of her mother-in-law, Elaine Franz, outside Olathe Medical Center in Olathe, Kan after working the graveyard shift on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, 2020, in Olathe, Kan. Elaine Franz died Nov. 10, one day before her 78th birthday, after contracting COVID-19.
AP Photo / Charlie Riedel
Jessica and John Franz pray before Thanksgiving dinner with their daughters, Quinn, 2, left; Amelia, 11; and Molly, 8, rear, in Olathe, Kan., Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. The family was having a quiet scaled-back Thanksgiving with just their household due to concerns about the coronavirus.
AP Photo / Charlie Riedel
Molly Franz, 8, hangs ornaments on a Christmas tree while waiting for Thanksgiving dinner in Olathe, Kan., Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020. Franz lost her grandmother to COVID-19 on Nov. 10 and her family was having a quiet scaled-back Thanksgiving.
AP Photo / Charlie Riedel
Family members, reflected in the window, wave goodbye to nursing home resident Barbara Farrior, 85, at the end of their visit at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020, in New York. The home offered drive-up visits for families of residents who would otherwise be celebrating the holiday alone.
AP Photo / Eduardo Munoz Alvarez
Nursing home residents hold signs as staff members walk by during a Thanksgiving celebration at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020, in New York.
AP Photo / Eduardo Munoz Alvarez
Two days before Thanksgiving, Evelyn Maysonet looks at a food delivery from the Weber-Morgan Health Department in Ogden, Utah, Nov. 24, 2020. Maysonet has been isolating with her husband and son in their Ogden home since all three tested positive for COVID-19 more than a week ago. None of them have been able to leave home to buy groceries so Maysonet said they were thrilled to receive the health department’s delivery.
AP Photo / Rick Bowmer
Evelyn Maysonet, 53, looks on as food for Thanksgiving is provided by Weber-Morgan Health Department in Ogden, Utah, Nov. 24, 2020. Maysonet has been isolating with her husband and son in their Ogden home since all three tested positive for COVID-19 more than a week ago. None of them have been able to leave home to buy groceries.
AP Photo / Rick Bowmer
A photo of Kerry Osaki’s mother Rose, who died of COVID-19, hangs on the wall at Osaki’s home in Fountain Valley, Calif., Nov. 25, 2020. For years, Kerry Osaki and his mother went to his aunt’s house to celebrate Thanksgiving with family. His wife spent the holiday cooking a spread of turkey and stuffing with her relatives. This year, both of their traditions have fallen to the pandemic that took the life of Osaki’s 93-year-old mother.
AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Kerry Osaki, right, helps his wife, Lena Adame, in the kitchen of their home in Fountain Valley, Calif., Nov. 25, 2020.
AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Kara McKlemurry poses for a photo while writing Thanksgiving notes to family and friends at her home in Clearwater, Fla., Nov. 19, 2020. On Thanksgiving Day, McKlemurry and her husband would usually drive to one of two places: his family's home in another part of Florida or her family’s house in Alabama. This year, McKlemurry informed her family there would be no visits because of the pandemic.
AP Photo / Chris O'Meara
A photo of Ana Martinez, the recently deceased mother of sisters Vivian Zayas and Alexa Martinez, rests besides an empty chair as Thanksgiving dinner is served in Deer Park, N.Y., Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020.
AP Photo / John Minchillo
Images of Ana Martinez, the recently deceased mother of sisters Vivian Zayas and Alexa Martinez, hangs on the living room wall as the family’s Thanksgiving dinner is served in Deer Park, N.Y., Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020.
AP Photo / John Minchillo
Among the highlights: From New York, an elderly nursing home resident marking the holiday alone, and a family with an empty spot at the table to commemorate a mother lost to the virus. In Kansas City, a nurse who recently lost her mother and marked the holiday after completing an overnight shift at the hospital. A Florida woman who skipped the family gathering to write Thanksgiving notes to her loved ones. A Utah family of three, all of whom tested positive for COVID-19, who found boxes outside their home overflowing with canned goods, desserts and a turkey. And in Southern California, a man who spent $1,000 on rapid virus tests so he could share Thanksgiving Day with family.