Our first Thanksgiving as a married couple was in 1970. Tommy was in the Marines and we were stationed in Yuma, Arizona. We were 2,000 miles away from home. I was 8 months pregnant with our first daughter, Lisa....and we were broke.
When you only get $97.00 every two weeks and a $100.00 allotment and the rent is $140.00 a month, there is no extra money. Of course things were cheaper then. Utilities were included in the rent. Gas was 25 cents a gallon and our car was paid for. I had received it for graduation. Mama and Daddy officially gave it to us when we got married.
The only debt we had was my wedding rings. I think they were $15.00 a month for two years. We were kids. We were in love and money or the lack of money did not bother us at all. UNTIL November rolled around and we couldn't afford a turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.
If we had a turkey, I wouldn't have known how to cook it. But that was beside the point, we wanted a turkey and dressing with all the trimmings.
We didn't want anyone to know that we had run out of money and were flat broke. That was embarrassing to us, so we agreed not to tell anyone back home.
I remember my mother was scared I was going to kill us with food poisoning. She would call and ask me how I was fixing the turkey. She was so relieved when I told her we were having dinner with friends, and that Shirley was cooking the turkey. I didn't tell Mama that Shirley couldn't cook, either.
Enter Brooks and Shirley, friends in the Marine Corps with us. They were broke too!! However, they had a turkey breast in the freezer and said if we could bring the rest of dinner, they would fix the turkey. We decided to have the dinner at our apartment, because we had more room than they did.
This was a deal neither of us could pass up. Shirley and I planned the menu. On paper it sounded delicious. In person it was far from delicious, but it was fun!!
I was supposed to make the dressing. Only problem was, I had never made dressing before. Tommy and I cooked it together. He grew up cooking so he helped me all the time. All things considered, it tasted pretty good. I forgot to put celery in it and I added too much sage but we ate it and no one died. That was a relief. We also had canned green beans, candid yams, corn and dinner rolls. I made a chocolate pie that we had to eat with spoons. It never did get thick.
Shirley didn't know exactly how long to cook the breast and it was a little on the dry side. It was a lot on the dry side. We just added gravy and wolfed it down. We had a good time and laughed all through the meal. Compliments were flowing, like we were dining at a four star restaurant.
We ate by candlelight. The candles were red and from our Christmas wedding the year before. Our table was barely big enough for four people to be seated in comfort. One of the legs was propped up on a Sears catalog. Music was playing in the background. It was delightful.
Later, we all drove out to the desert to watch the sun set. The heat was bearable then...even pleasant. Sometimes there would be a chill in the air late at night, but not that night. The colors of the sunset complimented the earth.
A desert sunset is remarkable. It looks as though you can see forever. The cactus and sagebrush take on a completely different look, almost eerie, as the sun goes down.
We sat on the hood of our car and wished on stars as they appeared in the night sky. No one told their wishes, if we did they wouldn't come true.
I remember my wish....I wanted to be a good cook and to be one soon. It came true, but it didn't come easy or fast. It was a learning process and one filled with so many goofs, unexpected tastes and smells, stories and laughs. I learned that I cannot bake fish and a cake at the same time. It is impossible to tell which one you are eating. The cake tastes like fish and the fish smells like cake.
In hindsight, I wouldn't have had it any other way. The stories, the memories were the best part of a life long learning experience. One that keeps on going until today.
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