Joy's thoughts and things

Tom Turkey

Thoughts: When I was a little girl, my father participated in our small town turkey scramble. One cold november morning, many men in our little town gathered on the front grounds of city hall. They all looked up towards the mayor standing in the bucket of the ladder fire truck some 20 feet above. He was holding a large turkey, ready to drop it to the men below. At the moment the mayor dropped the bird the men began to scramble and my dad emerged from the pile with the turkey in his arms. My siblings and I were so excited. For the next week we played with the turkey. He had become our new pet! Wednesday morning our dad told us it was time to kill our new pet and get him ready for the thanksgiving feast. How could he do this! We pleaded with him not to do it. Our dad said that he wished that he would have never won the stupid turkey! I think he had become attached like the rest of us.

My sister and I stood at the back door closing our eyes and plugging our ears as our dad cut off Tom's head. When we thought the worst was over, we opened our eyes. To our shock and horror, Tom was running around the back yard with no head! It was more than we could bear. We were so sad.

My dad plucked and my mother cleaned, stuffed and cooked our beloved Tom. When the feast was ready, we all sat down at the beautifully set table. Tom Turkey was set on the platter in the center of the table. Were those still some feathers sticking out from his legs? We all suddenly lost our appetite. The silence in the room told of our feelings. My little sister burst into tears. No one ate one piece of our friend Tom. Not even my dad.

In the spirit of tradition, every Thankdgiving Day someone in our family reminds us of our old friend Tom.

Things: This Tom Turkey hangs in my kitchen during the month of November . He watches over the thanksgiving festivities. It is made of old jackets, shirts and hand dyed wool .

When I saw the pattern I knew I had to make him in memory of Tom.

.