Our family doesn't have a Thanksgiving dinner that doesn't include discussions of four separate holiday dinners that none of us will ever forget.

Let's take 'em in chronological order.

 

SKIP TO MY LOU

Many, many years ago--I think it was in the 70s--we were having Thanksgiving dinner and, for whatever reasons, the topic of "skipping" came up. Who knows why? But my family was famous for weird dinner discussions and "skipping" actually isn't that odd, by our standards.

Anyway, as the discussion wore on, my sister got up and demonstrated skipping. She skipped around the table. Well, Dad didn't think that looked right, so HE got up and showed her how to do it.

I thought they were both wrong so I got up and began skipping. Suddenly, we all noticed we were all skipping around the dining room, and I said, "What if someone were to walk in, right now?" And we all just started laughing. Then we realized food was getting cold and we finished eating. Good times.

 

A COLD DAY IN DALLAS

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
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In 1984, my parents and I flew to Dallas and met my New Mexico family halfway for Thanksgiving. The plan was to have dinner at a Dallas restaurant and then head to Texas Stadium and watch the Dallas Cowboys host the New England Patriots.

The plan WASN'T to be in Dallas on of its coldest Thanksgivings ever. Man, was it cold! When we got to the stadium, we realized we were going to have to park, like, a half mile from the stadium. And while our seats were good, Texas Stadium was open-air. And it was a windy day. And it was 39 degrees.

I know it was November, but I just always thought Dallas would just be warmer than that, even at that time a year. What did I know?

Still, we had a great time and spent the rest of the holiday weekend in a VERY busy and active Dallas.

 

THE PIG, THE THREE-LEGGED DOG...AND A TURKEY ON A WASHER

Digital Vision/iStock
Digital Vision/iStock
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Two of my family members who met us in Dallas--Aunt Jo and Uncle Charles--came to Owensboro for Thanksgiving in 1994. And they didn't come alone. And here's how I found out who their company was:

I drove over to Mom and Dad's house the day before Thanksgiving and noticed a temporary fence had been put up on the side of the house. So I went in, went through the house and went out the back door. There on the patio was a pig. I think they call them javalinas. Yep, a little pig. I told Mom, "Uh, there's a pig on the patio." From the next room, she said "That's not all." And in came a three-legged dog.  They were Aunt Jo's pets. And they made the trip. Hilarious.

And that's not all.

When I came over on Thanksgiving day, I opened the washroom door and, sure enough, there sat the turkey cooking in a roaster...on the washing machine.

I thought, "Why not?" I mean, after all, this was OUR family.

 

THAT SINKING FEELING

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Wavebreak Media
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You need your sink on Thanksgiving. You just do. Ten years go, my parents' sink decided to back up on Turkey Day. And it was awful. They were renting so we called their landlady who called a couple of plumbers.

In the meantime, we had to take everything off the table--the dining room and kitchen were combined--then move the table into the living room then figure out how we were going sit around that table then put everything back on the table and enjoy Thanksgiving dinner while plumbers pumped crud out of the sink.

We invited them to have something to eat, but both were eating late and weren't going to miss their respective dinners, which was good. Plus, they were PLUMBERS WORKING ON THANKSGIVING! They were making serious bank.

(...for cleaning sludge out of the pipes, but making serious bank, nonetheless.)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

 

 

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