Happy Mattsgiving: I Created My Own Holiday And Here's Why You Should Too

I hope you're having a good week. I know I am, but it's always so hard to work the week before a big holiday.

But Matt, you handsome devil, you. It's mid-July, what holiday are you talking about?

Oh, why only the greatest holiday on the calendar… or at least my calendar.

The holiday I created more than a decade ago: Mattsgiving.

…

Back in high school, I was sitting at home and watching Seinfeld — not going to cool-kid takeout parties, believe it or not — and the episode "The Strike" came on.

If the title doesn't ring a bell, it's the one where Frank Costanza, played by the late, great Jerry Stiller — celebrates Festivus, a holiday he made up.

It had to have been at least the tenth time I had seen that episode, but something clicked.

"Wait, if Frank Costanza could create his own holiday, why can't I?" I wondered. 

In fact, I remember having this same thought on my mind as it related to those ridiculous holidays that hack radio DJs tell you about, because they were too lazy to come up with their own bits.

"Hey, today is National Talk Like A Pirate Day… so… so, there's that. Anyway, the twelfth caller will win a pair of tickets to see Five Finger Death Punch…"

Those are all made up, too. There's not no historic reason why every September 19 is National Talk Like A Pirate Day; someone just made it up.

I realized I could do that too, but my holiday needed to be about something. It couldn't just be a holiday for the sake of a holiday like Flag Day or Administrative Assistants' Day; it had to mean something.

And what better thing to celebrate than me? 

So the holiday was going to be on my birthday (or within a week in either direction; it can move like Easter), but what would we do?

Around this same time I was also wondering why Thanksgiving dinner is only had once a year. Everyone I knew said it was their favorite meal, yet we did it once every 365 days.

What if there were another Thanksgiving? Who wouldn't want to eat stuffing, turkey, and cranberry sauce on a 100-degree day in July?

Plenty of people, but it's my birthday, dammit, and that's what we're doing.

And with that, Mattsgiving was born.

A traditional Mattsgiving spread. Sure, that may look like a Thanksgiving spread to the untrained eye, but it's definitely for Mattsgiving. (Getty Images)

I'm having family over this weekend for Mattsgiving dinner. My mom is bringing stuffing, my grandma is bringing cranberry sauce, my fiancée is making green bean casserole, and I've got some turkey breasts that are going to get thrown on the smoker to get what I like to call the "Uncle Matt's Good Times Backyard Barbeque" treatment.

There's even an annual commemorative event logo. Here's the logo from last year's Mattsgiving XXIX:

It's the best, and I've been doing it for well over a decade, and this year's iteration — Mattsgiving XXX (the Roman numerals system corresponds to my age; it's not that this year's edition will be explicit) — is going to be one for the ages.

What started as a good has become a family tradition. I remember one Mattsgiving about six years ago I was driving around before the family came over to celebrate, and I thought to myself, "Man, there are a lot of cars on the roads for a holiday."

Then remembered that to most people, it was Thursday. For me, it was Mattsgiving.

So, what I'm saying is go ahead and make up a holiday for yourself, your friends, and your family. Make it about whatever you want, but be sure to stick with it so it becomes a tradition.

It's a good time, and an even better way to get out of things you don't want to do.

"Sorry, I can't that day; it's a holiday…"

With that, I'd like to wish you all a very happy and healthy Mattsgiving.