Thanksgiving & craft show 2006 - Aunt Boo boo is born!

Thanksgiving 2006 was a great success! A huge crowd that year: the usual suspects, of course: us, Adrian and Aaron, Jessica and Rick, Gloria and Sandy, Mom and Dad and Mark, Ashley and Jared, and this year, Aunt Chris joined us, as she had just moved here from Cocoa back in July. So we had the pleasure of her company, as well as “Uncle Bob” and “Aunt Jean’s” as well. And our extra special guests this year were Uncle Albert and Aunt Nell (who had just been declared, after 15 months of surgeries and chemotherapy, to be breast-cancer free)! We had so very much to celebrate!

No missing food this year: everything AND THEN SOME made it to the table. The turkey, a ham (courtesy of Bob and Jean), dumplings and corn casserole (from my momma), rolls and oyster dressing (made by my SIL, Gloria), stuffing, green bean casserole, macaroni (Adrian’s specialty), carrots, and my specialties: the cranberry sauce, sweet potato and marshmallow casserole, cranberry meatballs, sugar coated pecans, and for dessert, my homemade, from scratch, cranberry bread, and white-chocolate and cranberry cookies, as well as a chocolate cake from Bob and Jean, and my momma’s offerings: the pies! Pumpkin, mincemeat, apple and chocolate-peanut butter!

And celebrate we did....and it’s a good thing we did, because another uh-oh was right around the corner. My poor Aunt Chris. One of our loosely held family traditions in recent years has been my mother’s participation in the local holiday craft fair that takes place every Thanksgiving weekend at the O Dome. Well, this year was going to be a big one, with Aunt Chris, Uncle Bob and Aunt Jean, and Uncle Albert and Aunt Nell, all contributing to a combined booth at the craft fair. They had worked so hard for so long, and everyone was so looking forward to the whole weekend. Even Aunt Nell, having spent the last 15 months recovering from cancer, spent many hours doing her crafts while taking her IV chemotherapy! What a trooper she is!
So on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, after a wonderful day spent shopping and getting into the holiday spirit, we’re back home and enjoying the evening with Uncle Albert and Aunt Nell....and even a surprise visit from my wonderful friend D from North Carolina, while Mom and Aunt Chris and Uncle Bob and Aunt Jean are all at the coliseum setting up for the craft show to start the next day. It’s a lovely evening, until we get a phone call that Aunt Chris tripped over a bunch of electrical wires and cables left lying on the floor at the coliseum (no warning or danger sign nearby, mind you), fell flat on her face, and broke her nose! Aunt Chris does not cuss, but the first words out of her mouth were “Oh, S**T!” Mom took her to the emergency room, where she spent hours waiting to be seen, of course....but the real kicker to the story is that the coliseum did not have a first aid booth or a medical emergency kit nearby....and they were not very quick to call an ambulance, and my mother ended up having to clean the blood left on the floor so no one slipped and fell in that! You would think they’d be very anxious to follow up and take care of someone that their negligence had caused harm to!

Well, Aunt Chris was finally examined, had her nose taped up, was dosed with some lovely drugs for the pain, and was sent on her merry way home that night by the ER personnel. She ended up having surgery several months later, after all the internal swelling had gone down. However, a few days after the fall, while she was still at home recovering and healing, still taped up and very, very bruised, hubby took Alex over for a quick visit and to check on her. He explained to Alex that Aunt Chris had fallen and gotten a very bad boo-boo, wanting to prepare him for seeing her all bruised and bandaged. When Alex saw Aunt Chris, he was scared and concerned, pointing to her face and exclaiming, “Booboo!” Hence, Aunt Boo-boo is born! That name still sticks to this day.

Aunt Chris was in pain and discomfort for a long time afterward, and needless to say she never did make it to the craft show that weekend. Luckily, we have a big enough family that there plenty of people to cover the booth at the show, and plenty of people to attend to Aunt Chris at home that weekend.

So Thanksgiving of 2006 had it’s share of drama, yes? Lots of family, lots of friends, tons of food, lots of activity, a few cuss words thrown in, a surprise guest from out of town, a trip to the ER....yup, sounds just about right for my gang! Gobble, gobble!