Thanksgiving Memories: Mother, Daddy, Mikey And The Red Things, Even Crabapples
Posted: Sunday, November 06, 2011
by Fran Larson
http://www.franniesquotes.com/
Mother said to dress your very best for Thanksgiving. The little girl chose her yellow print dress with 3 rows of ruffles from the waist down and a big sash. She could twirl in it by turning round and round and the ruffles would fly up in the air.
The little girl set the table for Thanksgiving with mother’s shiny silverware that was only used for Thanksgiving or Christmas. She promised her three cousins she would play with them soon in the backyard after dinner. Aunt Christine was the boss in the tiny kitchen with the linoleum floors and did not allow anyone in there, except to get water.
Aunt Christine’s grandchildren would be here soon, along with their parents. Pam, Mike and Patrick had just returned from Japan because their Dad was in the Air Force and was stationed there for a few years. The little girl knew there would be plenty of red stuff to eat because that is all Mikey would eat.
Long after the little girl’s stomach was making funny noises and Mikey was asking what kind of red stuff were we having, finally, Mother and Aunt Christine began to bring big steamy bowls of dressing, sweet potatoes green beans, corn pudding and biscuits. Then Daddy brought out the huge turkey and carefully placed it on the table. Just as Mikey began to cry, Mother brought out the red things…cranberry sauce, strawberries, red jello and Crabapples.
Everyone sat down at the table and Daddy gave thanks. The first thing that happened was than Mikey got all of his red things delivered to his plate. The little girls watched and noted that Mickey’s dark red hair and freckles almost matched the red things. She wondered if she ate all red things if she would have red hair and freckles.
Her favorite red thing was the sweet, spicy crabapples.
“Things were different now. Mother and Daddy stopped serving the red
things, except for crab apples. Mikey had been killed in Viet Nam while
serving in the air force.”
The next Thanksgiving Mikey wasn’t there. His Dad had to be in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mother and Aunt Christine only had one red thing and that was crabapples. This year the little girl could have two because Mikey and his family were not there. The little girl missed Mikey, Patrick and Pam. She could play in the chinaberry tree in the back yard or run up and down between the orange trees and pick some sour lemons on one limb of the orange tree, but it would be too quite without her cousins, so she would sit and listen to the adults talk
The little girl grew up to be a grown-up girl and married. Daddy told her that God helped raise her and when he said it, his eyes were all teary and he looked away.
The first Thanksgiving, the grown-up girl was supposed to go to her in-laws for Thanksgiving. It was time to share. She would do this every other Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving Day came and when it came time to leave, the grown up girl got this stinging feeling in her throat they made her eyes wet. She swallowed hard and tried to make that feeling go away, but pictures of Mother, Daddy, Mikey, red things, all went through her mind like a movie, over and over.
The years went by and the grown-up girl got used to spending every other Thanksgiving with her other family. However, things were different now. Mother and Daddy stopped serving the red things, except for crabapples. Mikey had been killed in Viet Nam while serving in the air force. Aunt Christine still did not allow anyone in the kitchen when she was baking her Mincemeat, pumpkin and Tropical pies but it took her a little longer because she had to blow her nose more often.
The grown up girl was so happy and one by one, she had 4 little girls of her own. Her Mother sewed matching dresses and her Daddy served the 4 little girls as much ice cream every Sunday afternoon as they could eat. Every Thanksgiving the 4 little girls would eat spiced crabapples in a jar.
As the years rolled on, the grown-up girl lost her parents. Now, once again, when she went to her other family for Thanksgiving, the burning lump in her throat was back, which caused her eyes to mist. Like a movie running in her head, she saw Mikey, the red things, Mother and Daddy and Aunt Christine baking her Mincemeat, Tropical and Pumpkin pies.
The grown-up girl became a mother, then as the years flashed by, like lightning, she also became a grandmother. One day, she began thinking about the crabapples in a jar. It seems with the hustle and bustle of family life, she had forgotten about the crabapples. She asked her daughter to pick up a jar of crabapples from the grocery store but her daughter reported that they were nowhere to be found.
Today, the grown-up girl decides to try and find the crabapples in a jar again or else she could make them for Thanksgiving Day herself. She wants her grandchildren to know about Thanksgiving traditions, red things, Crabapples and especially about Mikey
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)There's our Fran, telling a heartwarming story, in her unique and wonderful style. Enjoyable read and full of memories, told with love.Thanks, Heidi. That little girl was me but I'm not sure if I wrote it in a way that it would be understood that I am that person.
Hope all is well with you.
Wonderful, and made my eyes mist up about the red things....we remember those special things every year.Thanks, Elle. It broke my heart when I heard about Mikie...such a waste when humans get killed in war.
I hope you find some crabapples in a jar any time soon. Lovely story and bittersweet memories of the lost ones.
Time flies......I think sliced crabapples are in the stores, but that isn't the same thing. I might make them if I could find some apples that small.
Yes, the memories are bittersweet, but it's OK.
Thanks, Hilda
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