Every week, 13WMAZ, Mercer University, Georgia Public Broadcasting and the Telegraph are all working together to bring you the stories about the tie that binds us all -- food.
This week and in honor of Thanksgiving, Mercer University’s Amyre Makupson spoke to a woman who celebrates the holiday in her own way every single day.
“Thai food is my specialty, it’s what I grew up with," said Sang Bolton, owner of Sang’s Thai Restaurant in downtown Macon. “I learned how to cook when I was 7 because growing up with 8 of us, we came from a huge family, I had no choice but [to] learn.”
A native of Thailand, she immigrated to the United States nearly four decades ago and has been cooking ever since.
“This is one of my passions, I do it daily,” said Bolton.
You may think cooking a large Thanksgiving meal would be something Sang would relish in, but for her, it’s just another day.
“Thanksgiving to us is every day because the thing of it is we are blessed just to have a grain of rice,” said Bolton. “That’s how we celebrate, so if we have food, we’re happy so we don’t have a specific date for Thanksgiving, for us it’s every day.”
Bolton came from a humble background.
“We all share. That’s my siblings, my sister in law, my great niece right there. We sit on the floor so this is how we eat. That’s how we celebrate,” said Bolton.
She believes in giving thanks each day.
“You shouldn’t even designate [it] a holiday. It should be every day. You celebrate every day you wake up alive, you breathe and you go to work and you’re doing the things that you’re supposed to be doing, so that’s Thanksgiving to me,” said Bolton.
She uses her love for cooking as a way to show her gratitude for life.
“We didn’t have much when we were growing up, so I’m thankful just to have a good job, a roof over my head and to be healthy,” said Bolton.
And her customers are like family, too.
“I see a lot of my good customers from 27 years ago. They give me some support so I’m going to keep on cooking because this is just what I enjoy doing and [to] give back to the community as well,” said Bolton. “I’m thankful I have a job, I’m thankful I have this business, and I’m thankful I’m able to give to the community and to help others as well.”