Thanksgiving past and present
In honor of Thanksgiving, I thought I would take a trip down memory lane to share some past Thanksgivings in the life of Big Mama.
1. My childhood memories of Thanksgiving are vague. I think we were usually at my grandparents’ homes and that I longed for the day that I could graduate from the kids’ table to the adult table. Seeing as how my 22 year old cousin was still sitting at the kids’ table, I had longer to wait than I even realized.
2. After my Nanny and Big Bob bought their lakehouse in Colmesneil,Texas, we spent most of our Thanksgivings there. I remember tons of food, lots of bustling around the kitchen to get everything ready and Big Bob raking huge piles of leaves in the yard that my sister and I would spend hours jumping in and scattering everywhere.
3. I graduated from Texas A&M so Thanksgivings throughout my college years (all 5 of them) were spent at various locations depending on whether or not A&M and t.u. were playing at Kyle Field or in Austin. I loved when the game was at Kyle Field because we’d all go to Aggie Bonfire the night before the game and then eat Thanksgiving lunch at Nena’s house the day of the game while nursing “minor” hangovers from overindulgence of adult beverages the night before. This was back in the glory days of Aggie football when we knew without a doubt that we’d beat the hell outta t.u. that night.
One of those Thanksgivings was the scene of the infamous episode in which Nena said that my current boyfriend was so good looking that if he asked her to run away with him, she’d say “Hold on, let me get my purse.”
4. The years that the game was in Austin, my group of friends would get some sad hotel room that was probably more mo than ho. We’d stay out on 6th Street way too late and then the next morning, we’d head over to the RV where the Kilgore crew would be tailgating. Thanksgiving lunch consisted of a wide variety of foods including barbecue and chips and queso. We loved it. We’d sit around pregame and attach bolls of cotton to our large hoop earrings to signify that Yes Ma’am, we were going to the Cotton Bowl and the horns were not. Have I mentioned that it was a glorious time in Aggie football history?
5. P and I had been dating for several months when he invited me to spend Thanksgiving with his family. His mama wrote me a nice note of invitation and I accepted. I knew for sure I wanted to marry him when instead of pumpkin pie, his mama served homemade chocolate ice box pudding for dessert. It was the best thing I’d ever tasted and I thought to myself that this family knows how to do things right. Sign me up.
6. The first year P and I were married, we drove seven hours to the Lakehouse to spend the holiday with my family. It is a trip that will go down in our family history. It included events such as P buying an Elvis clock complete with swiveling hips at the local gas station where a cashier remarked that “Honey, if I had a dime for every piece of Elvis memorabilia at my house, I’d be a rich, rich woman” and Big Bob getting upset that someone had put out his burning pile of leaves and proceeding to drink too much vodka. Big Bob didn’t drink EVER, so you can imagine the effect the vodka had on him. He spent most of the day passed out in his recliner. Nanny was furious, but the memory cracks me up to this day.
7. When Caroline was three months old we drove to Houston to spend Thanksgiving with Mimi and Bops (before they moved here, obviously). Since I was in the midst of incredible sleep deprivation, all I really remember is that I prayed Caroline would at least sleep while I ate lunch and she did. Also, my sister and her husband drove three hours and were right at the city limits when their transmission started to break. They turned around and drove back home thinking that they needed to be home to get their car fixed. They got up the next morning and decided it was worth the trip to drive all the way back in another car to spend Thanksgiving with us. We refer to it as the Thanksgiving Miracle of 2003.
8. Last year, we had Thanksgiving lunch at Mimi and Bops’ house, who now live just a mile away. Caroline was in a terrible mood all morning, so I put her down for a nap while we ate. She woke up as we were finishing and didn’t want to eat anything. I carried her into the T.V. room and she laid on my chest, looked up at me and said “Mama, my mouth feels funny” and then threw up all over me. The fact that I didn’t immediately throw up after her is the Thanksgiving Miracle of 2005. She had a stomach virus, threw up for the next 8 hours and in the true spirit of giving gave it to P and me 2 days later. I have to be honest, I wasn’t that thankful.
Seriously, I am so grateful for all of the friends and family I have spent this holiday with over the years. Each year has its own set of memories and that’s what life is all about. I’m thankful for P because plain and simple, my life would not be my life without him in it. I’m thankful for Caroline because she is the light that makes my life a little brighter. I’m thankful for my family and all that they mean to me. I’m thankful for Gulley who has been making me laugh for over seventeen years. Gulley, you have to tell me when you go off cheese.
And most of all, I’m thankful for God. I’m thankful that He is the giver of all good gifts and He has blessed me with many.
