Thanksgiving, Part Two - But what did you Dooo...?

Thanksgiving, Part Two:

On Wednesday, Todd and I wanted to visit a winery, so Megan and Joe planned for us to visit two. One we’d been to before, and love. They pair their tastings with various cheeses and chocolates. It’s always fun to see how the flavors complement each other. The second winery was new to us, and had a fun little store attached. There’s nothing like wine-themed gifts for certain women on my Christmas list… ;)  For dinner the kids suggested the “Great American Pie Company.” If we went during the Early Bird Special (4-7 p.m.) we’d get our whole dinner (which Megan refers to as “comfort food” – chicken pot pie, shepherd’s pie, meatloaf, turkey, mac & cheese, etc.) plus a soft drink, plus a piece of pie/dessert for only $12.99. Sold! The food tasted great, and I’d agree with her – “comfort food” indeed.

Waking up on Thanksgiving morning with our daughter in the next room felt nice. It had been four years since we’d spent that holiday with her and Joe. A few weeks prior to us being there, she’d asked if we wanted to go to NYC to see the Macy’s parade. We attended and watched her march in it in 2004, and knew the 12-deep crowd sizes, etc. so we said we were okay watching it on television. She said that the dog would also like that decision. I was actually looking forward to a laid-back traditional day. When our two kids were younger, Todd always stopped at Cinnabon before Thanksgiving, and picked up cinnamon rolls to eat while we watched the parade. It was cute to see that they had arranged to make some cinnamon rolls for us, to carry on the tradition. We “Facetimed” with Tony (Lesleigh had to work), and wished him a Happy Thanksgiving. Megan carried her phone all around the house, showing him all of the pets (there are three) and told him what was new with each. Crazy town… J 

It was also nice to see Joe and Megan work together in the kitchen. Each had certain recipe suggestions. Unlike me, who has all of my recipes in old books and on tattered pieces of paper, they each have theirs on their phones. They conspired on the best way to baste the turkey, cover it with tinfoil, make side dishes, etc. Neither phone dropped into the gravy (that I know of…)

Megan and Joe moved to the east coast in 2010, less than two months after their wedding. It always meant a lot to me (as a mom) when their new friends/friends’ families invited the two to their own holiday celebrations. Even if 98% of the time you love your life and living arrangements, there’s something about “the holidays” that has the ability to make you feel lonely. So I was glad that they always were offered somewhere to go. Likewise, this year the kids invited a young family over for the day. They couldn’t get back home to Michigan, so they spent the day with us. It was funny to watch the Packers/Lions game, exchanging old memories of holiday games gone by. Of course the Packers didn’t do very well this year (sigh) … Oh well… The couple had a four-month old baby, and he was fun to oooh and aaah over for a while. Good company, good food, chilled wine – all in all a great day.

On Friday we took a little tour - saw where Megan works, and met a couple of her friends. We’d seen Joe’s workplace on a previous trip. The four of us went to see the Hunger Games movie and we all thought it was good – possibly better than the first. I read the whole series a while back, and it was good to have that memory, without it being fresh. That way I knew what was happening, but didn’t keep comparing the book and movie. If you’re interested, definitely go see it. Since it was Black Friday, we braved (dun dun duuuun) “the mall.” It was already 5:00 so we thought the crowds may be down a bit. There was a steady stream of cars/headlights and still seemed very busy, but we found some open parking by the Sears store. Todd loves Sears, so he didn’t mind strolling through. (You’ve heard of tip-toe thru the tulips? Well this was tip-toe thru the tools) (get it?)   ;)  The mall had just opened a Red Robin (Mmmmm) so the four of us each had a beer and a burger, and shared some good conversation.

One of our main reasons for going to the mall was to shop at the Hallmark store. Megan loves the “Willow” figurines, and as a Christmas gift, we wanted to add some pieces to her Nativity set.  No kidding – we were standing there looking at the Willow Nativity when all of a sudden a male store employee came up and said, “We have to close our store – there’s a fight in the food court.” Weird… So the four of us just sort of stood there as the two employees figured out what they should do. When we finally stepped into the mall, a woman walked by very fast, saying that there was a big fight in the food court and that someone had fired a gun. She was heading for the nearest exit – which wasn’t a real exit, but an emergency exit. Wow, was it strange for the four of us to follow her group down that long narrow hallway, looking for the door to the outside, not knowing exactly what had happened. When we got outside, there was a mass exodus occurring. Many stores and restaurants ushered their customers out. Since we’d parked on the opposite end of the mall, we passed by a lot of the chaos on the way to our car. As you can imagine, it felt eerie, we felt apprehensive and scared, and also very disappointed. Megan said it best, “What is this world coming to?”   

As Joe navigated our car from the mall’s mayhem, squad cars and ambulances squealed into the lot. Megan and Todd both tried to find information on their phones as to what had just happened. Later, as we watched the news from the safety of the kids’ living room, the reporters said that no gun had been used at the scene. Yes, there was a fight, and fifteen people had been involved, but no guns…  

What a strange night. I’ll never forget it.

Tune in soon for Part Three, Clara the Foster Dog. It’s an interesting story. 

God’s Blessings!

Katie Kolberg Memmel is the author of “Five Fingers, Ten Toes – A Mother’s Story of Raising a Child Born with a Limb Difference.” For more information, go to her website, www.katiekolbergmemmel.com