"The Trudey Plew -- Bye-bye!" shouted Anna. "What?" my husband asked. "Anna, what are you talking about?" She was so excited none of us could understand her. "Slow down and repeat it again for Mommy." She stamped her feet and said, "The Trudey Plew Bye-bye! And him back!"

 

The Turkey flew the coop..er..oven!

 

Just as we turned to look at where Anna was pointing, Uncle Joe came in from outside and said, "She's telling you, the turkey flew away and was black." "Oh no!" I exclaimed, rushing upstairs to the kitchen. As I turned the corner I was overcome by the smell of smoke and the harsh blare of the smoke alarm heralding the demise of my thanksgiving dinner. Suddenly a cold chill ran down my back as the realization that my beautiful $65.00 imported turkey (which was actually $83.50 when figuring in shipping and handling) was now a smoldering heap lying in my kitchen sink.

One torched turkey

 

Seeing my reaction, Uncle Joe quickly offered, "Now, calm down. I'll explain everything." But I wasn't listening. My mind was busy turning over the tragedy that had befallen this turkey -- this work of art -- that had arrived on my doorstep just a few short days before. A turkey so beautiful and complete with all the trimmings, it would have brought tears to Martha Stewart's eyes. My Thanksgiving dreams were now a smoky nightmare.

 

When it rains, it pours

 

On top of the fact that not only was it Thanksgiving, the turkey was torched and my birthday, I had just started a brand new full-time job and could hear the words of my aunt echoing in my brain. "Thanksgiving will not be the same this year--watch and see," she said. And even though I spent weeks getting ready in advance to make sure everything was perfect, how true those words turned out to be.

 

Uncle Joe was toast

 

Suddenly I felt an overwhelming sense of guilt which was quickly replaced by a need to seek revenge and shift blame. Wasn't Uncle Joe a retired chef? Hadn't he promised to finish cooking the turkey? As I turned on him with fire in my eyes, Joe, sensing danger, began to back up. "Wait a minute, now! Let me finish the story." Joe pleaded. But all I could do was sputter out a frustrated, "What have you done with my turkey?"

"It caught on fire and I threw it out the window. That's when Anna saw it." Joe explained and added, "Don't worry about the stupid bird, I'll pay for it! It was my fault."

Accentuate the positive

 

I wanted to scream -- but then glanced down and saw my daughter, Anna, staring up at me, wondering what would happen next -- hanging onto my every word. Suddenly it hit me. Anna didn't even like turkey and nobody got hurt when the turkey got torched. Realizing what could have happened and what was really important, I sighed and said, "Uncle Joe, you did your best and if the turkey decided to up and fly away, well, we'll just have to go to Anna's favorite hamburger joint for dinner." Anna jumped up and down in absolute delight, "Yippee," she shouted. Uncle Joe looked pretty relieved, too.

It's all about perspective

 

As we all jumped into the van, relaxed smiles were on everyone's faces, and I knew everything would be okay. Yea, I could have accentuated the negative, but instead chose to focus on the positive. So what if the turkey got torched? It could have been my family instead! Thanksgiving isn't about the turkey or the table cloth. It's about putting things in perspective and giving thanks for what we have -- and for me, it's knowing my family is safe and happy.

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

 

©2004 Jodie Lynn

 

Jodie Lynn is an internationally syndicated parenting/family/health columnist.  Her latest paperback book is Mommy-CEO: 5 Golden Rules, 2001 revised edition.  She is the CEO and Founder of http://www.parenttoparent.com/.  Jodie Lynn originated the term Mom CEO(TM) - and all of its implications - to honor "balance in the life of moms" and has used the term since 1997. Lynn is also a regular contributor for eDiets.com in Healthy Kids.