Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving !!!!!
So here it is Thanksgiving again....just had to share a couple of 'unconventional' Thanksgiving experiences.
About 5 years ago I spent Thanksgiving by myself, writing a poem for a poetry class I was taking at the time. The menu for the day - HOT DOGS!!!! Now some might think this was kind of sad, but I choose to think it was a pretty cool thing to do. I call it my Anti-Thanksgiving. I think my need for at least one Anti-Thanksgiving in my life stemmed from my Weirdest Thanksgiving.
The Weirdest Thanksgiving was the first one I spent away from home partaking of other peoples' traditions. I was spending the weekend with College Fiance's family (he was also known as Fiance Number Two, sandwiched between High School Fiance and Grad School Fiance. By the way Grad School Fiance eventually became Husband and then Ex-Husband).
Prior to this, Thanksgiving had been a rather innocuous time, Macy's parade on TV, turkey dinner, etc. But this particular T-giving I spent the previous month dealing with my mother who was appalled that I would choose to spend a holiday, any holiday including Groundhog Day, with a family other than my own. So by the time we made the trek from Massachusetts to Connecticut I was already feeling guilty and depressed. By the time the weekend was over, culminating in a 5 hour Greyhound bus ride that included caged chickens, the depression had lifted and I had a whole new perspective on Thanksgiving - it took me years to get over it.
Now a bit of background on College Fiance's family:
Mother: Junior League Wannabe. Believed that putting antibiotic ointment up one's nose on a regular basis was a guarantee against any and all forms of disease. Believed she was rich (she was not). Appalled that her parent's idea of a fun night out was a visit to Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips and not the newest gourmet restaurant.
Stepfather: Edgar Cayce devotee. Spent most of his time in the basement staring into a crystal ball and target shooting with an air pistol.
Grandparents: Nice, normal people and if they enjoyed Arthur Treacher's their daughter should have left them alone.
Aunt and Uncle: Stepford-nice, if a little quirky, people named Tom and Gerri (kind of funny). Gerri was not quite as striving as her sister, College Fiance's Mother, but still didn't like the Arthur Treacher business.
That particular year College Fiance's Mother determined that there was to be no tryptophan dozing in front of football after dinner. Thanksgiving would not simply nourish our bodies but our minds as well. After dinner, we all gathered in the living room for SEMINARS. Yes, that's right, seminars, complete with handouts, flip charts and homework. Mother held forth on the wisdom of investing in mutual funds as opposed to stocks and bonds. Gerri's topic was the dangers of food storage containers - something about the plastic being made with cow or horse or goat urine that would leech into the food and slowly poison you. Each seminar ran about an hour - then the tryptophan mercifully took over......
This was the clearly the weirdest Thanksgiving I ever spent. But there was much to be thankful for: there were only two seminars and I never actually married into this freakshow so I was spared future Thanksgiving seminars. The downside is that I was permanently scarred by the experience and for years thereafter hated Thanksgiving.
I don't hate Thanksgiving anymore.....I have recovered, and in a few hours will be off to a nice, normal, seminar-free dinner experience with Spousal Equivalent's extended family. And I plan to enjoy it!!!!
So here it is Thanksgiving again....just had to share a couple of 'unconventional' Thanksgiving experiences.
About 5 years ago I spent Thanksgiving by myself, writing a poem for a poetry class I was taking at the time. The menu for the day - HOT DOGS!!!! Now some might think this was kind of sad, but I choose to think it was a pretty cool thing to do. I call it my Anti-Thanksgiving. I think my need for at least one Anti-Thanksgiving in my life stemmed from my Weirdest Thanksgiving.
The Weirdest Thanksgiving was the first one I spent away from home partaking of other peoples' traditions. I was spending the weekend with College Fiance's family (he was also known as Fiance Number Two, sandwiched between High School Fiance and Grad School Fiance. By the way Grad School Fiance eventually became Husband and then Ex-Husband).
Prior to this, Thanksgiving had been a rather innocuous time, Macy's parade on TV, turkey dinner, etc. But this particular T-giving I spent the previous month dealing with my mother who was appalled that I would choose to spend a holiday, any holiday including Groundhog Day, with a family other than my own. So by the time we made the trek from Massachusetts to Connecticut I was already feeling guilty and depressed. By the time the weekend was over, culminating in a 5 hour Greyhound bus ride that included caged chickens, the depression had lifted and I had a whole new perspective on Thanksgiving - it took me years to get over it.
Now a bit of background on College Fiance's family:
Mother: Junior League Wannabe. Believed that putting antibiotic ointment up one's nose on a regular basis was a guarantee against any and all forms of disease. Believed she was rich (she was not). Appalled that her parent's idea of a fun night out was a visit to Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips and not the newest gourmet restaurant.
Stepfather: Edgar Cayce devotee. Spent most of his time in the basement staring into a crystal ball and target shooting with an air pistol.
Grandparents: Nice, normal people and if they enjoyed Arthur Treacher's their daughter should have left them alone.
Aunt and Uncle: Stepford-nice, if a little quirky, people named Tom and Gerri (kind of funny). Gerri was not quite as striving as her sister, College Fiance's Mother, but still didn't like the Arthur Treacher business.
That particular year College Fiance's Mother determined that there was to be no tryptophan dozing in front of football after dinner. Thanksgiving would not simply nourish our bodies but our minds as well. After dinner, we all gathered in the living room for SEMINARS. Yes, that's right, seminars, complete with handouts, flip charts and homework. Mother held forth on the wisdom of investing in mutual funds as opposed to stocks and bonds. Gerri's topic was the dangers of food storage containers - something about the plastic being made with cow or horse or goat urine that would leech into the food and slowly poison you. Each seminar ran about an hour - then the tryptophan mercifully took over......
This was the clearly the weirdest Thanksgiving I ever spent. But there was much to be thankful for: there were only two seminars and I never actually married into this freakshow so I was spared future Thanksgiving seminars. The downside is that I was permanently scarred by the experience and for years thereafter hated Thanksgiving.
I don't hate Thanksgiving anymore.....I have recovered, and in a few hours will be off to a nice, normal, seminar-free dinner experience with Spousal Equivalent's extended family. And I plan to enjoy it!!!!
posted by Granny D at
11:48 AM
3 Comments:
Spousal Equivalent? That's funny....
Does he know you call him that?
i think it's a funny term....actually he told me they use it at the VA.....he remembers sitting around a table asking what to call these people and rejected Significant Other because, i guess, the other (even the spouse) may or may not be significant. :-)
i think it's a funny term....actually he told me they use it at the VA.....he remembers sitting around a table asking what to call these people and rejected Significant Other because, i guess, the other (even the spouse) may or may not be significant. :-)
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