The Thanksgiving Turkey Head

The older I get, the more importance I put on being kind and realizing that things you might say to another person could have a profound impact on them. The way you treat people says a lot about you. It says a lot about your character and about how you choose to live your life. It has taken me a very long time to learn this lesson. I now know that Karma comes around…and it’s best to be on the honest and good side because Karma is a bitch.

In light of what has been happening in the world recently, and the perspective of the information we are getting, being half the world away from our home, it just makes me wonder WHY we can’t all be kind. I know. It’s complicated. And more times than not, I am one that is ruled by my feelings. Still….reflection on the impact all this hate has me wondering WHY people are mean to each other.

I think I was in high school…and Momma brought home a wonderful hand made felt turkey head. I think she may have purchased it one of the holiday bazaars or craft fair…anyway….here it was. She pinned this turkey head onto a pineapple and it became the center piece for our Thanksgiving dinner feast. My younger sister and brother and I delighted in digging this turkey head out of the holiday decorations and laughing our heads off- This turkey head was a wonderful source of entertainment for us. We would laugh and laugh – pinning the head on a variety of fruits- mostly to find the most unfortunate and funny looking combination. These included oranges, apples, lemons, etc. We LOVED this turkey head. Well, actually, we loved making fun of it. We thought this tradition was great- every year we did this ritual. We dug the head out and laughed and laughed. Thanksgiving = Turkey head fun.

Screen shot 2015-11-26 at 4.52.11 PMThen, one year. It was gone. As we all sat around the table, we asked where our beloved craft was. Momma announced that she had thrown it away. We sat at the table in stunned silence. Why? When? We asked if we could go through the garbage can to retrieve it….but it was too late. Momma had thrown it away long before Thanksgiving…because she had felt teased all those years. She didn’t want one more year of us making fun of her or her turkey head.

We had no idea. We thought it was a funny tradition that our family all shared and loved. Not the case. We had no idea. We thought Momma thought it was funny. We had no idea. We were mean to her every year while she got up at 3 am to put the turkey into the oven and then start making all the delicious dishes we would consume and we never knew. We had no idea.

Every year at Thanksgiving, I think about the turkey head and how I had treated someone I love with such disrespect. I know. It’s only a turkey head, but it represents something else. It represents how we should live and treat people- or actually how NOT to treat people. Sometimes you can’t take something back no matter how much you wish you could.

Funny traditions like our annual New Year’s Day silly string fight are the things that strengthen bonds of family and create memories that we keep for our lifetime. All the funny traditions….even felt Thanksgiving Turkey Heads.

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends….enjoy each other.

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