My Favorite Thanksgiving Memory

(cross posted to my other blog InkPaperWords and OpenSalon)

This was several years ago, when I was a single mom with 2 kids living outside Albuquerque. I wasn't making much but AOL, my employer at the time, was handing out turkeys to employees. So I picked up mine and straightaway began dreaming of all the leftovers I would make out of this huge sucker -- turkey sandwiches, turkey pot pie, turkey mole enchiladas...

My younger brat was just a toddler then (he's 16 now), and had a bad habit of leaving doors (front entry, back yard, refrigerator, whatever, it didn't matter to him). The big day came and went and the three of us feasted. The carcass was summarily parked in the frig to be attended to later.

Later that afternoon, I came into the kitchen and discovered the refrigerator door open. I knew who the culprit was. As I went to close the door, I noticed the turkey was not in the frig. We had 2 dogs at the time and I can just envision the scene:

Brat leaves door open, dogs discover turkey. Dogs drag carcass to the backyard, where they proceeded to have their own Thanksgiving feast.

All that remained of my hopes and dreams for leftovers was naught but a grease spot on the tile floor in front of the refrigerator.