Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. Growing up, being a part of a family of seven could sometimes be a big enough group in itself. But when it came to Thanksgiving, why not double or triple everything and invite relatives and friends to make it even bigger? The more, the merrier. The louder, the crazier! That’s how it’s been for as long as I can remember. Even when us kids started our own families, we still all gathered together for this holiday. We just added more tables! 

This year, like most households across the U.S., we’ll be celebrating this Turkey Day in our own home with our small party of five. Yesterday I started my food prep. It was strange to shop for so little people. And all of the small turkeys were still large turkeys! I could’ve purchased a turkey breast but I prefer the dark meat. Am I weird? So, I bought the smallest bird I could find and figured we can use our vacuum-sucker-sealer-thingy to freeze the leftovers for turkey dinner 2.0 in a month or two.

In the past, I think there have been two other times where we couldn’t do a crazy-big Thanksgiving and had to celebrate with our own individual families. The first time, dinner ended up being at a restaurant. It was surprisingly really good but it lacked the hominess and organized chaos of the usual Thanksgivings. The other time was after I introduced my “friend”/now current husband, Rick, to my two boys. Rick and I opted to cook so we made dinner together for the four of us. (My stepson was with his mom at the time.) This was the first time I’ve ever made a turkey. Let me preface this by saying this was one of those times I could’ve become a vegetarian. We first had to rinse the turkey so I cleaned out the sink and we were armed with kitchen gloves. Trying to rinse and flip that heavy-ass thing around, all pale and cold and slippery, just screaming salmonella, it was disturbing. It grossed me out so much that Rick took over handling the bird. And seeing that weird packet of turkey parts fall out of the cavity? There are no words. Next up, we had to season it. I found a recipe where you rub an herbed butter all over it and also stick some of the butter under the skin of the breasts. Ugh, just saying that is icky. When Rick started this process, I had to leave the room. That just ain’t right folks. That Just. Ain’t. Right. But in the end, it all worked out and the turkey was actually very delicious, after I forced myself to forget the big naked bird…forget the big naked bird…

That day became one of my favorite memories of Thanksgiving. All of us were tucked away in my cozy little house. Rick and I happily prepared dinner together while the boys played games and watched movies. We’d join them whenever we were free. And after dinner we’d play more games until bedtime. It was a wonderful family-to-be day, like a foreshadowing of the happy family we’ve become. This year, with the boys being high school seniors, it will probably be the last Thanksgiving we’ll all be together for a while. So tomorrow will be extra special, especially since my stepson will be with us unlike the first time. Tomorrow we’ll come full circle. We’ll all be tucked away in our cozy little house. Rick and I will prepare dinner together while the boys play games and watch football and movies. But there is one thing that definitely won’t happen. I’m not going anywhere near that dang bird until it’s time to eat!

Happy Thanksgiving Y’all!