An Unforgettable Holiday

by Brennan P.

Holiday memories are probably among some of the most cherished throughout all of our years. They are the ones filled with family, fun times, and laughter all around. Occasionally, a memory is thrown into the mix that sticks out from all the rest; something about it just makes it that much better. Well, the one that sticks out for me was a few years ago on Thanksgiving Day, when everything seemed to go wrong.

It was on this particular Thanksgiving Day that our best and most famous family memory came to be. We had my grandparents over for the holiday, and from the moment that we decided to have them over, we knew that an average holiday was anything but possible.

It started out as a normal day; we all woke up early, eager for the day to begin. While eating breakfast we watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and everything was going as planned. With help from my grandmother, the Thanksgiving feast was soon underway. My mother and grandma began chopping all of the vegetables for the endless amount of side dishes to come. The house was soon full of wonderful aromas as the food began to cook. After all of this work, everybody soon grew tired.

It was time to take a break and sit down to enjoy the company. My mom decided that it would be nice to serve all of the adults mimosas, which she soon acted on. Being a holiday, it was only appropriate that the drinks be served in my mom’s finest Waterford crystal glasses. Serving up the drinks one by one, my grandma was the only one left. As mom walked into the living room, the whole day took a turn for the worst. She stumbled over the rug and almost dropped the priceless Waterford, and being extremely fragile, this was not an option to my mom. With some quick thinking on her behalf, she decided to sacrifice the drink rather than the glass, and unfortunately, my grandma was in her line of fire!

As you can guess, the mimosa ended up covering my grandma from head to toe, not leaving a dry spot to be seen. For a minute or so, as the pulp began to drip from my grandma’s hair, nobody knew what to do and how to react; we all just kind of sat there in shock, dead silent, wondering what to say or do. My mom seemed to be mortified, and with good reason, after covering her mother with mimosa! When the realization actually sank in for everybody, especially my grandma, we couldn’t help but laugh, and I’m sure you would have done the same. You see, my grandma was an extremely lighthearted person, who couldn’t help but laugh at anything that struck her with the least bit of humor, even when she was the object of the joke. It was quite a sight, and it made quite a memory. But, as you might have guessed, this was not the end of this unusually exciting day.

After Grandma’s quick shower and a well needed change of clothes, we all got back in the kitchen, ready to finish the feast. Side dishes were soon ready to be pulled from the oven, creating a heavenly scent which was only expected on such a holiday. Then, with only one thing left, and the most important of all on this day, the turkey was yet to be cooked. After stuffing it to the point of bursting, it was time to be put in the oven, and that is exactly what my mom did. Once the turkey went into the oven, we all went back to the living room to relax before the delectable feast. As the hours passed, and the laughter and conversation wore on, our curiosity began to get the best of us, and we all thought, “Where is the turkey?” Some investigation by my mother soon gave us an answer.

It soon became obvious that my mother was still thinking about the mimosa incident while preparing the turkey, and forgot to turn on the oven. Once again, we found ourselves not knowing what to say. My mother became the one to break this silence after explaining the hilarious situation to the rest of us. When we had all learned about this, laughter once again roared through the house, consuming all of those involved. That year, it must have been seven o’clock before we sat down to enjoy our feast, although it was just as good, if not better than years previous because we were all laughing too hard to know the difference. Not only that, but the mimosas began to hit the adults. This was also the year that a family rule came into existence: the person cooking any important meal cannot consume any alcohol before the dinner is served. Still, many years after these Thanksgiving episodes, the story of this particular holiday is told and we once again find ourselves consumed in laughter.