A Guest at the Feast: A Thanksgiving Note from Jan. Jud's Journal Entry Forty-one.

Thanksgiving came bundled in a NET. Wednesday afternoon Jennie  arrived with a feast from  the NET at  Christ Church, including a fresh pecan pie from Kaye Cook and an uncooked turkey. Thoughtfulness spilled out all over the kitchen counter: stuffing, sweet potato casserole, fresh green beans, mashed potatoes, gravy (in case the turkey didn’t deliver), cheese & crackers and fancy hors-d-ouevres (Trader Joe’s…love that place), cranberry sauce, rolls, whipping cream, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, ice-cream ( 2 kinds) and the uncooked turkey.

Folks offered to bring it roasted but I wanted to enjoy the “thrill” of  waking early, shuffling to the kitchen in my old nightgown, fumbling for the light switch, then struggling to bathe a slippery 20 pound bird before stuffing it and shoving it into the oven… all for tradition… the aroma of the turkey baking for hours giblets simmering on the stove and a false feeling I had control over something. Anything.

After rearranging the refrigerator to house this feast, I decided to put the turkey on the deck. Cold, like a refrigerator. Lily helped me triple bag it and place it on one of the deck chairs.

The wind whipped and howled through dinner and into the evening. Just before heading to bed, I decided to check on the turkey. When I turned on the porch light, I noticed the turkey’d hit the deck. Puzzled, I said to Lily, “That was some wind if it blew a 20 pound turkey off the chair!”

After opening the slider, I stepped onto the deck and heard an ominous sound. Then, I saw a large raccoon, glaring and snarling at me. He (It had to be a HE!) had torn through the 3 bags and pulled part of a wing off the turkey. I’d interrupted HIS Thanksgiving dinner. Well, not wanting to become a chomp or two, I backed up the two steps and into the house.

About a minute later, I got my Scandinavian dander up and declared, “You are NOT ruining our Thanksgiving! We’ve had enough to deal with and you are NOT eating our turkey!” I slid back that door and glared at the  backing-off raccoon, grabbed the turkey and huffed back inside.

Now, what? Rabies?! Help, Lord. So I performed surgery with Lily’s help…removing the wing and part of the turkey breast, giving new meaning to turkey with trimmings Scrubbing the turkey and our hands Rearranging the refrigerator, again, and tucking in the turkey for the night.

Meanwhile, the raccoon refused to leave, pressing its face to the glass (now looking cuter minus its hiss and glare). with amazing dexterity, it also tried to unscrew the cap on the bottle of cider we’d left out to chill. We woke up Maggie and Kate to meet the turkey thief.  Took pictures.

The next day, after we’d finished the Thanksgiving feast and before dessert, we stayed at the table to read slips of paper we’d put into the Thankful Basket. One of them said, “I’m thankful for animals.”

That’s the strange part of grieving yet going on with life, It comes and goes . . .sometimes resembling a hissing beast tearing at Thanksgiving, as we’ve known it, whole turkey style. Next, a sweet faced animal, playing pat-a-cake through the glass slider, entertaining 3 granddaughters. Joy masked as a raccoon.

Chad flagged a Mary Oliver poem for me on Thanksgiving from the book EVIDENCE, a gift from Heather.

“We shake with joy, we shake with grief. What a time they have, these two housed as they are in the same body.”

At the table, Chad sat where Jud usually sat and read Psalm 100 while little ones squirmed. “Shout for JOY to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with JOYful songs. Know that the Lord is God… Give thanks to Him… for the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.”

We prayed. We ate. We read from slips of paper, thankful thoughts. It took a while to read them all. So much gratitude to God for ways He showed up through Jud, Popo, Dad, and the NET. This Thanksgiving different but good. Infused with joy by Kris, Mike, Zoe, Jude, Rose and Bryn stopping by, Chad juggling apples for Zoe, Lily baking an apple pie All remembering, enJOYing together-time. Extended family.

Messy, unpredictable family Sorrowing, laughing, lopping off a wing or whatever it is that threatens to undo us Life. Looked at. Lived. Swallowed. Remembered… “God is good and HIs love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.”

I can hear Jud saying, “Amen!”