Thanksgiving was always a cool holiday in my house growing up. My favorite Uncle, Uncle Mike, my mother's brother, would come to visit with his wife, Aunt June. They lived in Queens, New York and we would meet them at the train station in DC. Uncle Mike would have on an overcoat and a hat like men used to wear, not a baseball cap, but a hat like Sinatra wore. Men back then always wore long coats and hats, especially when going to work or traveling. Men born in the 30s and 40s like my dad and Uncle Mike also wore button-down shirts. They wouldn't dream of wearing a t-shirt, even to work in the yard. They would wear a T-shirt underneath their button-down, but not by itself. And no shorts. They always wore Khaki pants, no jeans. It's just the way it was.
Uncle Mike was my favorite uncle because he was very gregarious and giving and he always thought whatever I did was just great. "Oh, boy, Jimmy, that was just great," he'd say. He was three years first-team all-state in New Jersey in football in high school (which is nuts) and played for NC State, but transferred to Utah State because "they paid better than NC State". Basically NIL before NIL. He had a tryout with the Rams but it didn't work out and then he went into the Air Force for a while. He drank some and he'd call me after having a few, but I didn't care, I loved him so much. He had a family from years ago but I never met them. He got remarried to Aunt June and they lived in an apartment and they actually lived below the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of OZ movie, I shit you not. She lived right upstairs. She also was the "Maxwell House lady" in the TV commercials. In that movie, she scared the shit out of me as a kid, along with those damn monkeys.
Thanksgiving was always when the Cowboys played, and everything revolved around the Cowboys, and of course, my idol, Randy White. My mom watched the games too, so she ensured nobody was eating when the Cowboys were playing. My mom's sister, Aunt Ditty would come over with her husband Uncle Bill, and my cousins Susan and Kathy. They were all Redskin fans and the Cowboys would whip up on the 'Skins pretty much every Thanksgiving. We were Cowboys fans simply because of Randy White, but I sure picked a good time to be a fan. This was 1977 to 1986 and the Cowboys rarely lost. The only team consistently better was the Steelers. I remember one time when I was just a kid my cousin Susan, who was like 5 years older than I was, were playing around, boxing, and I hit her in her pillow-like breasts. I was like, "Uh, sorry." I don't remember what she said. I was embarrassed.
Anyway, Uncle Mike and I would hang out all day long and then we'd have a big meal with turkey, oyster dressing, rolls, butter, broccoli casserole, mashed potatoes, and all the other stuff associated with Thanksgiving. We'd have apple and pumpkin pie with ice cream for dessert.
Then around 7pm, Uncle Mike would say to my father "Oh, Don, we have to have one of your famous sandwiches," and Dad knew what he meant. He meant for my father to make us sandwiches with turkey, dressing, cole slaw (with lots of mayo) and butter. Yes, butter. They were amazing and we scarfed them down with serious enthusiasm. Uncle Mike was great.
And it's funny, not laugh funny, but odd funny, how I am sitting here listening to my dogs snore and I'm looking back on those times and everyone is gone. Dad, sister, Mom, Uncle Mike, Aunt June, Aunt Ditty, Uncle Bill. Ain't that just crazy? I can't believe how everyone is fucking dead now. Man. That is crazy to me, and if you are in your late 50s like I am, all those people are mostly likely gone in your life, also. Your kids do something cool and you go to call your parents to tell them and well, you remember that they are gone. Most of the time, I don't even think about it, but sometimes I do, and man it just seems like it all isn't real. And did all that life with all those people really happen? Seems like a lifetime ago. Sometimes, since nobody is here anymore, it seems like it was a dream. I was a kid with all those people, all those lives that used to exist, was with them for years.
You just store it all away, you put it way back in the back of your head and you know it will surface intermittently, like at the holidays and you accept it. Because what other choice do you have? And there is something damn good about memories, especially ones that are so vivid that it is like they are right there, right now.
The Cowboys of Tom Landry's days are long gone, replaced by a game that is sorta like the game used to be, but not quite. Actually , it's not even close. And the Thanksgiving days go by, and the people leave forever and the world just keeps on changing. Me? I'm still here, missing the old days but still moving.
