The "The Next Generation Of Meals" Story

It was an ordinary day.  My wife Carol is talking to our niece Kelly's husband, Shawn about Thanksgiving dinner.  For about the past 50 years or so, Carol has had Thanksgiving dinner at our house.  First it was at 925 Janet Ave. in the Grandview Heights development, and then at our current home.  One Thanksgiving Day our next door neighbor on Janet Ave., Alice, arrived to share dinner with us.  Her husband had died a few months before and we knew she would be lonesome by herself.  Just as dinner was to be served Alice looked at me and told me that she had forgotten her false teeth.  "Could you go next door and get them for me?" she asked. 'They're in a glass on the kitchen table."  No problem!  Another Thanksgiving Day Carol invited her grandmother, MomMom, for Thanksgiving.  She was always nervous when she was around a large group of people and just as Carol was about to serve the meal, MomMom threw up on the dining room table.  No problem!  Now, I could add a few other stories, but those were probably the two best stories.   Carol's list of food items is usually Turkey with stuffing, masked potatoes, candied yams, asparagus bundles, baked corn, pumpkin bread, cranberry sauce and small rolls.  She begins the meal a week before when she takes the frozen turkey out of the freezer and places it in the fridge so it will begin thaw.  The rest of the week is spent setting the table, cleaning the house and preparing a list so she doesn't forget anything.  Sound familiar to most of you?  Well, this year will be slightly different being that Kelly and Shawn have asked if they could begin to take over the duties that Carol used to do so that she could begin to enjoy the holiday a bit more than she could when having to do all the work.  Tough to give up a tradition, but Carol was willing to allow someone else to take over the stress and host the Thanksgiving meal this year.  To do so, she was asked to come to their house to show Shaun how to make the candied yams, prepare the turkey for cooking and make the stuffing.  Now, if you are the person in the house who is responsible for the Thanksgiving meal, you can certainly appreciate having someone else take over the meal after close to 50 years of preparing the meal for a few generations of family and friends.  How will it all work out?  I'll let you know in a few days!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.