Everyone Has Blonde Days

Stuffing the turkey

   How *not* to stuff the turkey, for Thanksgiving

The turkey shot out of the oven and rocketed into the air,
it knocked every plate off the table and partly demolished a chair.

It ricocheted into a corner and burst with a deafening boom, then splattered all over the kitchen, completely obscuring the room.

It stuck to the walls and the windows, it totally coated the floor, there was turkey attached to the ceiling, where there’d never been turkey before.

It blanketed every appliance, it smeared every saucer and bowl, there wasn’t a way I could stop it, that turkey was out of control.

I scraped and I scrubbed with displeasure, and thought with chagrin as I mopped, that I’d never again stuff a turkey.... with popcorn that hadn’t been popped!!

Author Unknown

Blonde baking a Thanksgiving turkey!

Did you hear about the BLONDE who was cooking Thanksgiving dinner?  She baked the turkey for 2 1/2 days, because the recipes directions said cook 1/2 hour for every pound.  She weighed 125 pounds!

Reflections from Karan:

Can I be Thankful?

When I moved to the family ranch in Canada, I was thrilled to have a welcoming mother-in-law who had raised three boys, and was delighted to add a girl to her family.  I was a California Beach Bunny who had married her son; she was a tall, kind, and gentle Danish woman who loved her home and family.  She taught me how to cook, clean, bake those wonderful Danish pastries and pies.  I learned to can food, make jams, jellies, pickles, and how to freeze and blanch vegetables.  She became my second mother, mentor, and friend.

Living in the same yard on the ranch, we spent a lot of time together; I was constantly amazed at all, I could learn from her.

As the years past, three daughters were born to our family, and they loved their grandmother very much.  I fact every day after school they would stop at Grandma’s for cookies & tea, play a game of Sorry or Trouble, and then come home.  She always had a listening ear, and encouraging word and many hugs.  It was as though it was their special time to have Grandma all to themselves.

My In-laws had been away on a wonderful vacation, and when they had returned, my dear mother-in –law was not well.  After many doctors’ appointments, the diagnosis was Cancer.  When I heard the news, it seemed unreal to me.  Cancer was something that happened to other families not ours.  How naive I was.

Over the next few years, she endured endless chemotherapy treatments, severe illness, and as the family, we rode the roller coaster of extreme disappointments.  My daughters would still visit Grandma after school every day, however they would set the cookies on the table, make the tea, set the games up, and she would come and set with them and watch as they played.  Over a cup of tea, sweetened with laughter they enjoyed their time together.

During those years I was angry with God, I would open my Bible to read, and instead just weep.  I could not understand why God would allow this suffering to our family.  I tried bargaining with God.  “I’ll do anything you want, just make her better, my girls need her, I need her, and my family needs her.”  However, instead of getting better, we watch her visibly declined each day.

When my mother-in-law entered the hospital the last time we knew she would not be coming home again.  My daughters and our family were heartbroken; we were walking a road that was painful, with no road map, just going from one day to the next, trying to understand what God was doing, and wondering if he even cared.

The last three months of her life, I would spend each day with her.  She was a woman who loved God and read her Bible through each year.  I would keep her daily reading up as she rested, feeding her when she was too weak or the pain was too great, or just sitting quietly as she slept when under heavy sedation.  A friend told me that when someone is not responsive or in a coma state never say anything that you would not want him or her to hear, although they cannot talk, hearing is the last sense to go.  I was always very careful to remember those words of caution.

Time drew short and we as a family knew she would be going home to the Savior she loved.  As I watch her suffering I knew I had to let go, I was broken and prayed,” God, I know you love her more them I do, you are in control, I want your will not mine”.

As God’s peace filled my soul I knew that everything would be all right.  God’s plans are deeper, wider, and higher than anything, I could imagine, and in the loving arms of a faithful and trustworthy God, I knew we would be safe.

On Sunday afternoon a few days later she slipped into a coma, our family was told she would not know we were there, and she could not hear us or speak.  I decide to go in to her room and see her one last time.  I picked up her hand and whispered in her ear, “I love you Mom,” there was a slight squeeze to my fingers, and she whispered, "I love you too.”  Those were last words she spoke.

On Sept. 7, 1979, she slipped into eternity to meet the Savior she loved, and all the family and friends who were waiting for her.  What a glorious morning, (Col. 2:5)"Absent in the body, present with the Lord, (Rev. 21:4) No more pain and sorrow, and all tears are wiped away.”

God gave me a wonderful gift that day—a daily reminder of his love and faithfulness to me––one that I have cherished for 29 years.

Lovingly, Karan

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What are You thankful for?  Let me know.