Thanksgiving Memory

In late 2002, we found ourselves unexpectedly expecting a new baby. It took both Michael and I by complete surprise, and while we came to grips over how it had happened (besides the obvious way, duh), we decided to wait until Thanksgiving to share the big news with the family.

The big day came, and we found out that one of my cousins, Whitney, had just delivered a baby boy the day before. We poured over the photos and how cute the little guy was. As we began our meal, Michael cleared his throat and said he'd like to have us go around the table and have everyone say something they were thankful for. We went all the way around and came back to Michael, who said, "I'm thankful for the little baby". Everyone nodded their heads and agreed that it was nice that Whitney had given birth right before Thanksgiving. And then Mike added, "In Heather's tummy". As you can imagine, the whole family went crazy.

My Dad, as expected, teared up. My Marine Corps brother decided that he shouldn't have been thankful for what he'd said (to personally take out the enemy in Iraq) in light of the happy news. Nathan, who had just turned two, delighted in the cacophony of noise and added to it at the top of his lungs. My mom was the funniest though. She jumped up from her seat at the table and ran to the couch where she grabbed the TV remote. She was shouting happy things like "Wow!" and "Great news!", all the while punching numbers into the remote, randomly flipping channels up and down on the television. Then she slammed it against her hand and shouted, "Why won't this thing work?" We asked her what she was trying to do... and she said she wanted to call her friends and proclaim the happy news. When we pointed out that she was holding the remote, not the phone, she was completely confused. It was priceless, and still makes me giggle.

I am, as always, so thankful for my wonderful family, a never-ending source of mirth!