Nostalgia for TV Dinners

Fall has always been my favourite time of year.? Even though autumn technically begins in September, to me it feels like it starts with Thanksgiving.?

When I was around six, a neighbour gave me a book that her daughter had outgrown.? It was a picture book about Barbie and her “family” celebrating Thanksgiving.? There were a lot of pictures of Barbie and Skipper and others in the kitchen getting the dinner ready, and of everyone outside playing touch football with autumn-coloured trees ablaze in the background.? And of course, everyone around a big table enjoying the dinner.? I thought it was wonderful.? Thanksgiving, this is what you are supposed to do!

Unfortunately, my parent’s anniversary was the same time of year, and they always went away for a few days, and I always felt like we missed out.? We, being myself and my brothers.? My Mom would leave us with a sitter, and Swanson TV dinners ?- turkey with stuffing and gravy, mashed potatoes, peas and a little square of dessert.? The hard part was not eating the dessert first. Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed our "turkey dinners", but it just wasn't what I wanted Thanksgiving to be. Today of course, I can do Thanksgiving the way I want, and we usually have quite a few people over for dinner and I enjoy the whole thing, but I have to admit I still feel a bit of nostalgic when I see the Swanson’s Turkey Dinner in the freezer section of the grocery store.?

When I was fourteen, I was deemed old enough to be in charge when my parents went away for their anniversary, and after they left, I decided I was going to cook a Thanksgiving dinner.? My best friend stayed? with my brothers while I took a bus to the grocery store and bought a turkey and all the trimmings, and I made a pumpkin pie.? Besides my brothers, I invited some friends for dinner too.

It wasn't until I started carving the turkey that I realized that there was a bag containing the giblets stuffed in the back end of the bird – I had found the other bag when I was stuffing it.? Quickly deciding that what nobody knew probably couldn’t kill them, I hastily removed it and threw it away and proceeded to serve dinner.? ?I won’t say it was the best turkey ever made,? but it was wonderful.?

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