As many of you know, there was a drastic change of plans this week. We were supposed to go up to Colorado on Wednesday to spend Thanksgiving with the Kenworthy family. However, Jenn got very ill, then I caught what she had. It was the sickest I’ve seen her, and I don’t get severely sick very often, but this is the sickest I’ve been since I met Jenn.
Even though she has been waiting for this since the day her family moved, she refused to “make” me ride in a car for 8-10 hours while I’m sick. I know how much it meant to her, and to her family that we be able to see them, and to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. I have felt very bad for being the reason we didn’t go. But on Wednesday, as Jenn’s health began to decline again, and I made no improvement, we were both glad we weren’t on the road. My parents were also quite relieved that we wouldn’t be traveling after seeing how sick we were.
I felt a little better on Thanksgiving day. My sore throat was almost gone, and the nausea had faded, which I had been praying for, so that I could actually eat on Thanksgiving. But Jenn was feeling worse, and it’s so bad now that she says it feels as if she’s getting again. Meanwhile, I’m much worse again too. And today would have been the day we drove home. So we’re thankful for the slight improvement on Thanksgiving day, but it was probably best we didn’t go all the way to Colorado.
But after deciding not to go, the most amazing thing happened. Jenn insisted we would still have the perfect Thanksgiving. She made a shopping list, and began to plan a Thanksgiving dinner for the two of us, because most of my family were also going out of town. We borrowed some decorations from my mom, and Jenn cleaned and decorated the kitchen and dining area. With only 32 hours to pull it off, she was nervous, sick, but determined to make this the best Thanksgiving ever.
She doesn’t want to brag, so I will. It was perfect! Through the hacking and coughing, Jenn cooked an incredible Thanksgiving dinner. We had turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, southern-style candied yams, egg nog, apple-raspberry juice, boysenberry pie, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream. Everything was fantastic! (And yes, I actually tried some of everything.) None of her fears came true. Nothing was burned or ruined.
I’ve always said I have the best wife out there, and now I have proof. In 32 hours, and while incredibly ill, she cooked a massive and perfect Thanksgiving dinner. And she did it for no reason other than that she loves me.
Plus, she went through heck trying to find boysenberries and make me a boysenberry pie, one of the only kinds of pie that I like. She called and drove to store after store looking for boysenberries. She began to get discouraged, but she finally found them, and made a really, really good boysenberry pie just for me. And for the sake of making my family jealous, yes, I would compare it to Knotts’ boysenberry pie.
Jenn also demanded that I do nothing except play games and relax. So I did, and while many men might watch football as their wives cook, and maybe place a few bets, I don’t like football much. So instead, while Jenn cooked, I went online with Super Smash Bros. Brawl’s Spectator Mode and watched other people play, and bet on the outcome (with in-game credits). So I feel I kept that worldly Thanksgiving tradition in my own way.
The only thing Jenn asked of me was to shave, do my hair, dress nice, and carve the turkey (which I had never done before). She also kindly requested, “don’t you go throwin’ up my pie!” And I didn’t.
Adam was too kind in his post. What he didn’t say, was that on Wednesday, he had to deal with a sick, depressed, crazy woman who had become fanatically obsessed with giving him the best Thanksgiving he had ever had in his life.
Having cancelled our plans to drive all that day to join my family in Colorado for the holiday, I decided that Adam needed a pick-me-up in the form of a feast fit for a King. He was feeling very bad for being so sick that I couldn’t and wouldn’t take him on that drive. He knew I was disappointed and was focusing on that fact. I needed to show him that I was okay.
That is what started my crazy idea to plan, shop for, decorate, and cook a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for our first celebration of the holiday as a married couple. Having never done such a thing before, it was a task not easily tackled when healthy, much less as sick as we were.
For all the difficulty and stress that taking on this responsibility caused, it was worth it. I would do it all the same if given the chance to go back and do it over. This is most likely the only time Adam and I will have spent Thanksgiving as just the two of us and the memory makes this the best Thanksgiving ever.
I am thankful for the love and support of my wonderful, but sick husband. I couldn’t have pulled this off without him, nor would I have tried.
1 comment:
Dearest Jenn and Adam: I don't even know where to start. Ok, first, the winterized header and all is really, really cool! You two are simply amazing. Second, Jenn, I am so proud of you. I have never understood why you haven’t had more confidence in yourself as a cook. I guess you showed you! That was a major effort and it sounds like it was really worth it. Adam, what a wonderful, supportive husband you are and I’m proud of you for trying everything and not “losing” any of it.
To be honest, it sounds like your dinner was better than ours. I don’t think I put in that much work. I’ll have to keep that in mind for next year. :) How cool to have such a good memory for your fist Thanksgiving as a married couple.
The word for the day is…..AWSOME!!!! Thank you also for the pictures. You're so photogenic, you don't even look sick. Too Cool!!!!!!!!!!!OX0X0X0X0
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