Doc could hardly believe it when she looked at the calendar and saw that Thanksgiving was next week already. I think of all the holidays, Thanksgiving is my favorite. What’s not love? It’s the one day of the year the humans stuff themselves without guilt and when they are done I get all the leftovers. I start drooling just thinking about it. Of course the focus of the day is to count our blessings and that is the most important thing to remember, unless you know a secret about a past Thanksgiving and that is what I will tell you about today.
Doc says the holidays always bring back memories for her of all the family gatherings from childhood to present and that is what makes the day special for her. As she was going down memory lane with me, she reminded me of a story she told me about before I was born about the biggest Thanksgiving mishap that she ever had and to this day her family doesn’t let her forget about it.
Many years ago, Doc got up at the crack of dawn on Thanksgiving morning, while her family was still asleep upstairs. She had to get the big 20 pound turkey ready and put it in the oven so it could cook all day. After she buttered and seasoned the bird, she picked it up to put in the roaster and that bird slipped out of her hands, landed on the floor and slid a good ten feet before it came to a halt against the stove. She was mortified and let out a few choice words you would never say in church. Trying to decide what she would do as the turkey had picked up some dirt and a few dog hairs, she didn’t miss a beat. She got a paper towel, cleaned off the bird the best she could and put that sucker in the oven thinking the germs would all be killed in the cooking process. She told herself she would never say a word about what happened and since there were no witnesses, she was in the clear.
Later that day, the family arrived, sat down to dinner and ate that turkey while Doc kept the secret to herself,. The family praised her for a great meal and no one suspected a thing. It wasn’t until the next Thanksgiving that Doc confessed to what had happened. Although everyone was a little shocked, no one was so bothered that they left the table and to this day they talk about that and have a good laugh.
Besides the glorious food, listening to the family talk about all the memories is one one my favorite parts of Thanksgiving. I hope all of you have some good memories to share and many things to be thankful for this year.