Turkeys and Touchdowns

November 21, 2011

As I look out my window this morning, it's a typicial November day. The sky is gray, and the sun is nowhere to be found. The temperature is probably in the 30s or 40s. It looks a lot like football weather outside! And I know that this week is Thanksgiving Day, which is my favorite holiday of the whole year (except for my birthday, of course!). I love getting together with family and friends, eating turkey, my mom's great stuffing, and watching football. It never gets old to me, and I think I could have Thanksgiving every 3 months instead of every 12 months.

My favorite memory of Thanksgiving is not from one particular year, it's of all the years in my childhood when we'd go to Grandma Betty's house. We saw her less often than our other grandma because she lived further away from us, but we went to her house for Thanksgiving. Though I hated sitting at the kids' table when we ate, I was just sure the adult table had more interesting conversations, I knew that afterward we would go outside and play football. That was the highlight of my day!

I was the only girl cousin on my dad's side of the family for a long long time. All the other cousins were boys, and football was a big deal to them. They were always cautioned by their moms to be careful and not get too rough with me during the game. And, they had to let me play with them. I had no clue whatsoever about football, but still I longed to catch the ball and make a heroic touchdown leap. Looking back now, I can't remember any great plays I made or even any horrible injuries I suffered. I just remember being all pumped up to get outside and play football with Larry, Charley, Mikey, Kenny, and Scooter. I chuckle softly to myself and wonder if they remember our gridiron glory days, too. I wish I had read some Football for Dummies to help me understand what I was doing out there! Oh well, we had a lot of fun anyway, and that's what being a kid is about.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Sheryl W.
North Oak Branch