Live Your Life Today

Thanksgiving is such a joyful time of year.

Photo Courtesy of David Gunter

Whether you share this special day with old friends, precious family members, or a new acquaintance, you can always expect an overflow of kindness, gratitude, and love. There is always room for one more at the dinner table.  There is always left over turkey, too much cranberry sauce, and enough pumpkin pie to last you until Christmas.  What do I love so much about Thanksgiving?  That’s easy!  The smiles, the laughter, and the happy memories. (Oh…and the food, too!)

While in college, my Prima and I created a Thanksgiving Legacy.  For years, she flew in to NYC from Pittsburgh the day before the holiday.  We watched the Macy’s Day Parade (on TV of course) while we cooked a huge Servedio style Thanksgiving Dinner for 2 people.  We ate ourselves to sleep.  Literally.  Our first Thanksgiving I will never forget.  I bought a modest 10 pound turkey that I had begun defrosting the night before.  It was my first time cooking a bird all by myself, and I knew the frozen chicken breast I always purchased from Trader Joe’s defrosted in a relatively short period of time… Why shouldn’t my little Turkey Tina be the same?

Well, I was terribly wrong.  We took the bird out of the refrigerator, and began digging for the innards.  We tugged and pulled to get the bag of guts out, not realizing that, in a normal circumstance, they are easily removed.  I violated the bird by feeling her insides, and realized…This bird is frozen. How do you unfreeze a turkey the day you are supposed to cook it?

I called my mother.  She knows everything.  Bry… she said, You are just going to have to wait until tomorrow.  You can’t do anything about it. Bummed by the negativity, we called her mother: Christina… she said, You two are crazy.

Then the best idea in the world occurred to me.  I said, Preem, my hairdryer will fit in the neck!

A hairdryer?!?!  NO, Bryana! Prima said, You can’t use a hairdryer!

Preem…get the video camera.  I’m going in.

I rammed that hairdryer right into the neck of my gorgeous Turkey Tina.  She thawed out, and didn’t make a fuss at all.  We laughed.  We cried (onions really affect my tear ducts).  And most importantly, we shared the most delicious meal together.  My Prima and I.  Anyone else, and this experience would have been a miserable disaster.  But my Prima’s presence kept me happy, and I hope I returned the sentiment.  Thinking back on this memory, I feel joy in my heart.  This is love.  It’s for love that I am most thankful.

At this time in my life, I don’t have any romantic interests.  No man has stolen my heart just yet.  But I know love.  I know love in its purest form.  I also know how to love.  For me, this Thanksgiving is all about giving back love.

Have a healthy, blessed, and loving holiday.  I know I will!

My name is Bryana Servedio, and this is My Journey to the Quarter Life.