Dear Annie: This Thanksgiving I will be meeting my new boyfriend’s family for the first time, and I am already a bundle of nerves. His mom is hosting a big traditional dinner at their home, the kind with a perfectly roasted turkey, gravy from scratch and about 10 different side dishes. She is known for her cooking, and apparently Thanksgiving is her Super Bowl.

There is just one problem. I am a vegetarian. I have not eaten meat in nearly a decade, not for attention but because it genuinely makes me feel better physically and aligns with my values. My boyfriend mentioned it to his mom, and she was polite, but I could tell from her tone that she did not quite know what to make of it. She said something like, “Oh, she does not eat turkey? Well ... We will figure something out.”

Now I am pan

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