TURKEY SERVED WITH A HEAP OF LOVE

I was young when I cooked my first turkey dinner-newly married and just a few months into my first teaching job. I had a class of seven severely mentally and physically handicapped, non-ambulatory, teenaged boys who had lived their entire lives at the residential treatment facility where I was working. I loved those boys. In a very short time, they had become more then my students. They had become my family.

I knew that they had never had a home cooked Thanksgiving dinner, so I decided I would cook my first turkey, complete with all the trimmings, for my boys.

I spent the entire day before Thanksgiving in the center’s kitchen cooking and baking. I had hauled in all my own pots, pans, utensils, foods, and spices with me that morning. Since I was on the clock and couldn’t leave, I had to carry on when I discovered I had forgotten several important ingredients (like eggs for the pumpkin pie, marshmallows for the baked yams, and sage for the stuffing). And, when I went to wash the turkey, I found the neck in its cavity and I had no idea what it was, and I did NOT want to touch it! (Like I said, I was young). SO, I wrapped my hand in a towel and shoved that disgusting body part back into the bird!  I found out later that I had also cooked the bag of giblets inside the turkey!

To make a long story short, the dinner was not very good and I was feeling a bit embarrassed as I served it. I had invited my husband, my sister, several aides and the center’s Director to join us with promises of a gourmet meal.  It is an understatement to say 'gourmet' it was not. But, my boys loved it! They gobbled it down with gusto, grinning all the while. They clapped and they cheered. They ate every last bite.  My boys thought it was the finest meal that they'd ever eaten and that I was the world's greatest chef.

Since that Thanksgiving dinner 38 years ago, I have learned to cook, and, Thanksgiving dinner has become my favorite and finest meal to prepare. My children all come home and we share a royal feast.

And, every year, the day before Thanksgiving as I begin the cooking and baking...I think about my first Thanksgiving at CWC and the lesson I learned that day: When you prepare food with joy for the people you love, LOVE permeates the food. And, in the end.....isn't love really all you need?