"I love the smell of mothballs!" exclaimed the classy Thanksgiving guest donned in her Alfred Dunner "old lady" sweater, after I shared charcoal as a tip to dilute the smell from an old dresser I have.
"How did you get between his legs?" said my quick, off-color uncle.
"What?" shirked the woman.
"Get between the moth's legs so you could smell his balls."
This was one of the many sidebars beyond pecan, brown sugar-covered sweet potatoes and gooey macaroni side dishes as we digested our Thanksgiving feast over football. This followed dinner small talk over meticulously made and decorated nutter butter turkey chocolate cupcakes, eyes literally glued to the rich assortment of 15-20 guests spread across three rooms.
I strategically sat next to my cousin, on the fringes of the formal dining room, heeding the potato-scooping caution of a relative about who might talk too much (no offense - I tend to be more quiet). There, he and I could compare notes over dodged bullets of ill-fated relationships after previous Thanksgiving licks of fresh wounds and feign deep conversation as the introverts of the bunch. As the seats filled at our maverick table, flavorful talk sprinkled like seasoning to include warnings about farm-raised, human feces-fed Tilapia, aversion to chicken after a headless chicken chased one guest around the house as a child, a daughter's glimmering $78,000 smile built from 12 teeth, a touching Vietnam veteran's tribute to 76 squadron members at an annual reunion and the history of the first stealth aircraft that crashed.
Beyond plates that quickly emptied, we each brought lasting contributions to the table this Thanksgiving (and who knows what happened at the other tables!). The food and conversation were rich and diverse, raunchy and sophisticated, plates, pants and personalities overflowing. We were far more colorful and diverse than the nutter butter turkey chocolate cupcakes, though thankfully not so refined. I will surely take any leftovers home.
What do you bring to the table?
How are your contributions unique?
Dedicated to D., who made those lovely cupcakes. They were almost as delicious as our time together this year. Thanks to my uncle and aunt for providing a wonderful occasion where we could be together and be ourselves.