THANKSGIVING WITH THE IN-LAWS!

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BY ELIZABETH SINCLAIR

Back when my husband and I were first married, I thought what fun it would be to throw Thanksgiving dinner for his entire family (about 28 people). Back then Marge (my real name) was spelled S-T-U-P-I-D. Thank goodness, my sisters-in-law, my mother-in-law and my husband’s aunt all volunteered to take on part of the dinner preparations. I took the turkey, dressing and the eight pies (four apple and four pumpkin). My mother-in-law, who lived next door, did the veggies and the potatoes. My sisters-in-law split up what was left and his aunt, who lived a long way away from us, brought wine and fresh-squeezed cider. One magnanimous volunteer supplied the nuts as her part of the preparations.

It took days of work, but I was so proud of how everything turned out. The turkey was golden brown, my husband’s grandmother’s sausage and apple dressing seasoned to perfection, the pies looked and smelled heavenly, and my table was set elegantly with his grandmother’s collection of cut glass goblets, snowy white linens and my milk glass dinnerware and gleaming sterling silver. In the center of the table was a fall arrangement of fresh flowers. I was going to make the impression of all impressions on my new in-laws. Or that was the plan.

In the middle of a very solemn dinner, I asked my husband, who was at the head of the table opposite me, to pass me a roll. He picked up a roll from the linen napkin lined basket, raised it over his head and threw it to me like he was Eli Paton throwing a forward pass at the Super Bowl. It came up short and landed in my goblet of cider, splashing cider all over me, the table and my full dinner plate.

Needless to say, that broke the ice. For a moment, I was mortified, but as everyone around me burst into laughter, I had to join in. It’s a Thanksgiving I will never forget.