A Thanksgiving Story
A funny holiday story
My uncle Richard came to live with us in 1994. He was my mom’s younger brother. I had a problem with this at first because I had to share my bedroom with him.
He was like a big brother to me
A funny thing happened though, we became good friends. I thought of him as a surrogate big brother. I was the oldest in the family, so having a surrogate big brother was very cool. My younger brothers were married and gone, and my sister moved out soon after my mom died, so it was just us guys. I didn’t know much about cooking, but Richard was a good cook.
My uncle was a good cook
By default, Richard cooked dinners, including Holiday Dinners. My dad loved to eat, and he didn’t like waiting. I happened to be off that Thanksgiving. Richard was having trouble that year. He was tired and frustrated. He got the turkey prepared and in the oven, and all the other dishes were ready.
My poor dad was starving, at least he thought he was
My dad was at his computer in the Florida room. He was getting hungrier and hungrier. I’m sure he thought he was going to die. Dad would get up and head to the kitchen. He would open the oven door. By staring at the turkey, he could compensate for the heat escaping from the open oven door.
My uncle was getting angrier by the minute
He would do this every five minutes, then with increasing frequency. I sat in my chair in the living room, watching as Richard’s face got redder and redder. I swear I saw steam coming out of his ears. “I’ll be damned”, I thought as I sat there. “I’m going to have to call 911. Richard is going to jail. Dad’s going to the hospital with a meat thermometer shoved up his ass.”
It was a funny thing to watch
The whole thing was funny to watch. The turkey got done., We had a nice dinner. We pigged- out, and Richard and I watched football. It was a good day.
My dad had no clue
Richard and I talked about that day often. We were talking about it with my dad around. He was shocked that he was doing that. He had no idea that he was pissing off my uncle. “I’m sorry, Richard.” He said, “Please say something if I act that away again.”
I don’t know why I thought of this today
Richard was cool. The whole thing blew over. I don’t know why I thought about that incident today. I think about it, and I chuckle. The Emergency Room Doctors and nurses would have got a kick out of it as well. Enjoy your family. It hurts when they are gone.