Aunt Jemima's

Thanksgiving Day.  Besides life, love, nature, music, family and friends, Here are a few random things I'm thankful for -car chargers, toilet paper, NyQuil, Bobby pins, Body Glide, High Fives, the opening song in The Lion King, and bacon. 

I ran in the Massapequa Turkey Trot 5k  here in New York on this Thanksgiving morning. This was my first race running without a partner next to me, but then I thought about several friends back at home who were running the BoroDash this morning and it made me smile.  There were close to 600 runners behind the starting line.  I found my little place to stand in right behind a mother and daughter who looked to be about mine and my mom's age.  I thought about my own mom and how I wish she was there running with me, but I knew she was probably elbow deep in her famous chicken and dressing preparing it for Thanksgiving dinner.  I stayed behind the mom and daughter team for most of the way during the race.  I finished the race with the time of 40 minutes and 12 seconds.  I wasn't crazy about my time, but umm....hello? Have you ever ran a race in the ridiculously cold weather in New York?  I could feel my esophagus freezing by the mile.  It was terrible, but I had fun. I found a cute turkey in the crowd running the race today and his beautiful wife took the picture. "Isn't it Ironic, don't cha think?" - Alanis Morrisette

 Once I crossed the finishline I called one of my best friends back home, who is also a runner and just finished her first full marathon.  I am so proud of her.  As soon as she picked up the phone and said to me in her perky warm voice "Happy Thanksgiving!" I started to cry. It's pretty much been that way for me all day.   My phone was lit up like a Christmas tree all day with phone calls and text messages from home, which then caused tears to fall.  I know it's good for the soul, but I hate crying.   Thankfully I had evening plans for Thanksgiving. 

Last week when I was finishing up my Christmas shopping I went to Normstroms.  When I got to the checkout counter in the makeup department, I was greeted by a tall, older, beautiful, sweet lady named Mrs. Linda.  She reminded me of Aunt Jemima slash meets Madea.  As I was checking out we started conversating and she immediately asked me, "Honay-where are you from? Your voice is like southern home cookin' to me! "  She was orginially from the south as well. Conversation continued on for awhile and by the time we were done Aunt Jemima had given me her business card, home number, cell number, a mama's kind of hug which of course caused me to 'tune up', and an invitation to come to her house for Thanksgiving.

Orginally I had plans to go to the Macy's Day parade after the run today,  I carefully weighed my options of going to Aunt Jemima's house, knowing it would be full of soulfood and laughter, or watching SpongeBob float in the air by myself I went with Aunt Jemima's.  It wasn't a very hard decision.  I called her yesterday to confirm I was coming.  I asked her if there was anything I could bring and what time I should be there.  Her response was, "Honay just bring yourself.  We'll be snacking on stuffed mushrooms around one o'clock but around three o'clock we gonna 'lay it down'!"  She then gave me her address and told me she was looking forward to me coming.

When I arrived there were several white people standing out in the front yard of the house address she gave me.  I called Mrs. Linda and told her I thought I might be at the wrong house then lo and behold out comes Mrs. Linda where all the white people were! I said,"Mrs. Linda! I was so confused because all the white people in the front yard!" Yeah, I said it.  We're tight like that. She thought it was hilarious.  When we were in the house she put me straight to work.  She told me I was on 'table duty'.  She told me to go to her china cabinet and set everything up.  I immediately wanted to go to Pinterest and type in table setting! I had no idea how it really is supposed to be set! At my family's Thanksgiving our 'fine china' is a stack of sturdy paper plates, plastic cups, and spoons, forks, and knifes all slung on the counter top with a line of hungry people all the way from the kitchen wrapped clear around into the living room.  I did the best I could and no one said anything about the table not being set right.  Thank God. 

The rest of the evening was filled with laughter, old family stories, and endless eating.  Everyone made me feel comfortable and right at home.  It was wonderful.  Today I was thankful for Mrs. Linda and her family taking me in as one of their own. 

Sidenote: I would just like to say that not one but two fine china pieces were broken in the course of the evening and no- neither time was due to me!  Another thing I'm thankful for - paper and plastic dishes.

Happy Turkey Day everyone!