One year, I think it was 1984, we moved into a new house the day
before Thanksgiving. This was after spending four weeks in a hotel with
four kids, three of them teenagers. It was a move from Houston, Texas
to upstate New York. The kids were out of school for that four weeks
because we didn't have an "official" address.
So
finally, we moved in on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving. That
year it was also my birthday. The next morning when we woke up we had
no water because the pipes were frozen. Nothing was unpacked, but we
had the presence of mind to pick up several aluminum roasting pans. For
the turkey, we doubled two pans and plopped the turkey in the oven
while we rousted out the necessities from the jumble of boxes that were
piled high in the living room and dining room.
It
wasn't the first time I had moved. Actually, it was move number forty.
So the next morning chaos was not something new. There were the usual
shouts of "Mom, where is...?" and the usual jockeying for space and
attention. My husband was trying to figure out why we had hot water in
the toilet. Just the little things in life.
When is
was time to take the turkey out, the pan collapsed, burning my
husband's hands. He tossed it on the top of the stove and it exploded.
In a instant we had turkey, dressing, and broth everywhere...on the
ceiling, on the walls and counters, down in the innards of the brand
new stove...on the floor. Everywhere.
The househunk
took the stove apart and carried it outside to wash the worst of it off
with the hose in the yard. The boys got in an argument and my younger
son "ran away". I remember kneeling on the floor trying to mop up
that greasy mess and crying, "I want to go home!"
And my husband leaned down and calmly pointed out, "We are home."
Heh.
Well, the runaway came home. My daughters helped set the table and my
sons helped wash walls and counters. Amazingly, we sat down to
dinner, thankful to be in a home instead of that hotel. And every
year, we retell the story of the exploding turkey dinner.
After all, it was way better than the fire in the furnace on Christmas Day. Trust me on this.
Have a blessed Thanksgiving Day!
anny
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