Thursday, November 26, 2015

My Favorite Thanksgiving - Miss you, Mom!

My Mom
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Treasure this time with your loved ones!  This is about my mom's last Thanksgiving with us--one of my favorite memories!

Cooking Thanksgiving Day Dinner 
(November 25, 1999)

My mom had been quite ill that month. She was in and out of the hospital but was having a good day. We all knew it meant a lot to her to have a nice Thanksgiving so my dad, me and Gerard (my husband) all decided to pitch in and make it a good day. Mom had made Waldorf salad and the turkey roll was in the oven when Gerard and I arrived. (I thought about bringing the camcorder, but didn’t because I knew mom wouldn’t want me to take her picture. She was always camera shy, especially when she didn‘t think she looked good enough. This was the last time Harry‘s oven was used--as an oven, that is.)

Mom supervised the dinner preparations from her favorite comfortable chair in the living room, telling dad and me what to do next. (I am deficient in cooking unless it’s heating up frozen dinners.) We were going to put the stuffing in the oven next to the turkey roll and the rolls on top, but dad had the cookie sheet with the turkey roll turned the wrong way so he had to spin it around. Then the lid on the stuffing was too high, so dad had to make the rack lower. Mom’s wondering what’s going on because I am laughing by now. Instead of taking the turkey out, dad tried doing it leaving it in and just lifting the rack. The turkey started sliding into the oven! Gerard was back from CVS by then, so he was laughing too. I caught it with the potholders in time before it fell into the oven. Dinner was good.

Mom was feeling good and seemed back to normal like before she went to the hospital, recovering nicely. She ate good too. It was a nice Thanksgiving and, as it turned out, was a very good last memory of our time with mom. I really wish I had brought my camcorder that day!

(Excerpt from the book I wrote:  "My Funny Dad, Harry," pg. 34.)  I shared this in response to Mama Kat's Writers Workshop prompt to write about a favorite Thanksgiving memory.  

Reposted--Originally posted 11/24/11.

"My Funny Dad, Harry" Book Giveaway

Congratulations to all the winners of the giveaway for "My Funny Dad, Harry" at Red Pine Mountain. I am so happy that four of my regular commenters won! Read what Tim thought of it at Everyday Living.