A Los Angeles woman invited an Afghan refugee family over for Thanksgiving. Here’s what happened at their first Thanksgiving meal

Asghary, a former translator and interpreter for the US military in Afghanistan, came to the United States on a special immigrant visa in September 2020. He brought his four children, who tried to learn English while enrolled in what was then all-virtual school at the time. His wife joined them five months later.

Their host, Kiki Nagy, volunteers for Miry’s List, a Southern California-based group that helps refugee families settle in the U.S. In August, during the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Miry’s List enrolled more than 20 refugee families, about five times the number of families compared to the month before. Next year, the organization is working to prepare to help more than 300 families settle in Southern California.

Nagy had asked the organization’s founder, Miry Whitehill, if she could host an Afghan family for their first Thanksgiving. She was connected with the Asgharys, whom she had never met until the day of the feast.

Nagy made a big turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes and spinach. But she also prepared a halal lamb to make sure the Asghary family could have something familiar to eat. Asghary said his daughter, especially, liked all the food.

Nagy was eager to not only introduce them to Thanksgiving dishes, but to also show them the tradition of giving thanks.

“From the right and the left, everyone is kind of like, ‘America has got problems — x, y, z,” Nagy said. “In the midst of this conflicting cultural moment, this narrative of division that we hear so much about, that there is something essential to the American experience that is rooted in gratitude, that is rooted in the volunteerism that you leave your country, you leave a situation…