A Tale of No Turkey

Remember (yesterday) when I told you that my family always celebrated Thanksgiving together on the Friday after? And how we were gathering down near Philly at my brother's house? Well, some of us made it, and some of us, well...

This is what happened before we even left Brooklyn. That is not a flat tire — that is one shredded tire! I will spare you the story of how it actually happened (but it involves some construction workers and a metal grate that they had left in the street).

These are my daughters texting their friends (and updating their Facebook pages) while we were waiting for AAA. Aaahh, technology. Long story short: yes, there was a spare; no, we didn't have the little doohickey to release it from under the car. And neither did the AAA guy.

Over 3 hours later, and following a confluence of unfortunate circumstances, we had 2 new rear tires, still no access to the spare, and frazzled nerves. Not conducive to a 2-hour drive down to Philly, only to turn around and come back after dinner. I must give Laila due credit, though, for handling everything with amazing calmness and grace.

They felt awful about not being able to join the family for Thanksgiving, and even more awful for me, since they had enjoyed the holiday at a friend's house the day before while I was at home, baking cupcakes, swooning and drooling from the aromas wafting through my apartment from my neighbors' feasts, looking so forward to the gastronomic delights that awaited me the next day.

So we went to the supermarket, picked up my son-in-law from work, and he and Annisa prepared a chicken (which they named Agamemnon — don't ask, because I don't know), stuffing, and all the fixings for our own little celebration.


The food was delicious, and we enjoyed each other's company while consuming a surprisingly large amount of wine! While I did miss being with the rest of my family, I felt truly blessed to have these amazing people in my life. And isn't that what Thanksgiving is really about?