We’ve all had some memorable Thanksgivings. Mine happened while I lived in Miami, and about to have my third child. For some reason, I was hosting Thanksgiving for my then husband’s brother & family from Wisconsin, and my in laws who lived an hour away. Looking back, I wonder why a person who was 9 months pregnant would have made such a plan, without foreseeing the possibility of a little Thanksgiving glitch.
On Wednesday , I put my two children in the car, drove to Winn Dixie, bought a turkey and all the fixin’s, went home, and confidently chopped up onions and celery for the dressing. After dinner, I set the table for eleven, got out all the serving dishes, and rubbed the turkey with garlic. I suppose we watched television for awhile as I folded napkins and baked a couple of pumpkin pies.
About 11:30, I was awakened with those familiar cramps that signal a baby is urgently trying to escape from the womb. Even though I was 10 days from my due date, I’d been through this before, and was afraid I I would not be cooking Thanksgiving dinner. What would happen to the turkey? Would it spoil in the refrigerator? And where would everyone have dinner on a holiday when all the restaurants were closed?
My husband awakened our children, and we drove to the hospital. After I’d been put in the maternity ward, I urged my husband to take the children home so they could all get some sleep. Secretly, I hoped this was a false alarm and I could go home and cook dinner the next day.
They hadn’t been gone half an hour before a slim, blonde nurse came to my side, looked at her watch, and drawled . “I think we’re going to have us a Thanksgiving Baby.” It was l a.m., and the doctor was at a party. He made it just in time for the delivery , dressed in a suit and tie.
Someone else cooked Thanksgiving dinner the next day. Probably, my sister-in-law. When they came to see me me that night, everyone said it had all been delicious. They even put some leftovers in the freezer so that I could have Thanksgiving dinner the following week.
Yes, there was a little glitch in my Thanksgiving dinner plans. But on the other hand, something had gone very, very right. Fifty years later I still have my beautiful Thanksgiving Baby Girl..