The giblets of a turkey never got me worked up. Thoughts of stuffing, long-necked turkey soup, or even giblet gravy didn’t dance in my head. Instead, my mouth would water when Mama breaded and fried up those turkey gizzards, yummy!
Our menu included lots of small lobster tails with the usual seafood trimmings. Sides included deep-fat fried hushpuppies with hot green chili peppers and onion, coleslaw made from homegrown cabbage, baked potatoes, and sweet potato pies. Unlike other families, we celebrated Christmas a week before the twenty-fifth of December.
It was best to keep Christmas about staying thankful for what I had and maintaining a low profile. There would be no wild capers from our house on Christmas day because we celebrated it early. The moon was shining, and I was enjoying our meal, thinking this was one dinner I would never forget. There was a genuine sense of family love while my parents soberly ate a meal together with me.
The moment was perfect till a vulgar BLAST shattered the quiet.
To continue reading, please go to MasticadoresIndia ( now called ChewersMasticadores ) and be sure to like, share and subscribe. Merry Christmas to all my kind and loving friends on WordPress. I am grateful to be a regular contributor on MasticadoresIndia and will now write one piece a month for MasticadoresUSA as a regular contributor. A special shoutout to Terveen who has encouraged me and has helped my confidence in writing short stories. Also thank you Barbara for inviting me to write a post a month, I appreciate your kind words as well.
Also, if you didn’t get a chance to read Shobano’s piece Christmas Eve on MasticadoresIndia, it is a beautiful writing that sheds some light on our world and those who inhabit it. The link for her piece is here.
Congratulations Joni. That was a tale that I all too sure happens more frequently than it should. Wishing you a very Merry Christmas. Allan 🎄🎅❄️🤗
Oh thanks for reading on Christmas Allan, what a kind soul. Happy Christmas to you and the family. I truly hope you two especially have something wonderful to do. We just spend time together and today we are going to see Avatar. Sending my love to you both my friend. Joni
I have read the entire piece, Joni, on Masticadores India. Great work and very important topic. All the best and blessings, love and happiness for Christmas 🎄.
Thank you so much for reading Francis. That is a true story. The US just doesn’t want to give away their guns and Scott and I can’t stand guns. The police and the military are the only one who should have guns. Anyway, I saw you sold three beautiful pieces to a collector in Spain, Congratulations my friend. Sending you both lots of love and hugs. I know like us you two are grateful for the gift of Jesus, the child born of the Virgin Mary. We are going to see Avatar today and hope you two find time to spend with friends are enjoy a nice dinner. Always in our prayers, Joni and Scott
Have a great time both of you! It is a sad state of affairs when there are more firearms in a country than people! I am not against gun ownership, but I would demand classes and practices, background and psycho-medical tests and a very high fee before allowing anyone to purchase a gun. That’s how it is here in Europe, and not just for guns (only hunting rifles are allowed) but for a driving permit as well.
You may find this hard to believe and it is one of the reasons that Scott and I want to leave NC where we live so badly. We live outside of the city so we could buy a little land, not much about an acre and a half. After moving here we found out that where we live anyone that lives in our subdivision can put up a target on a tree and shoot a gun, anytime before dark. Often we hear guns being fired during night time as well. We use to have children playing in our backyard in the woods where there was a creek and I worried all the time that someone would get shot. The guns we hear are automatic weapons that can fire at least 6 times. Anyone over 21 can buy a gun here in the US and carry it openly. Sorry didn’t mean to get on a tangent but I know you are right and innocent children are killed all the time in the US just for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Wishing you two the most wonderful and blessed year ever coming up and thanks for being such a wonderful and faithful couple. We both feel so blessed to be able to see something that is representative of the love you show towards others in our home and the amazing talent you both share. Love to you both, Joni and Scott
Thank you Joni for your kind and beautiful words. We too are thankful for having met you and Scott and for being able to share with you both as a blessed couple of believers. You are a most powerful writer whose poetry always reaches the heart and paints a.azing pictures in our mind. Love ❤️ to you both!
You are welcome. 🦋🌹🤗❤️🙏🙏🙏🙏🎄🎄thank you both so much. 🌹
Wow, my mouth is watering at the thought of fried turkey gizzards… Merry Christmas!!!
haha – you know everything is deep fat fried in much of the south. I grew up on that kind of food when I was little and it was good. However, my husband is a pescatarian (only eats seafood) for almost as long as we have been married. So two decades anyway. We use olive oil and eat lots of vegetables, fruit, rice, and white fish. Sending you a lot of love and hugs, and many blessings to you and your loved ones this next year.
I commented over at MasticadoresIndia but wanted to say here this a powerful and disturbing piece, and it’s devastating that this sort of thing occurs in the 21st century. Humans are broken creatures, and the scars they inflict (both physical and emotional) on spouses and children last a lifetime. I hope your Christmas was a good one., Joni, and that the new year will treat you well. 🙂
Dear Mike, thank you so much for your kind comment on MasticadoresIndia and this one as well. I have to agree that something is horribly wrong in our society. Because my daughter has her life about ten minutes from Seattle and is extremely busy we see her and the family when we can. When no one is coming, we don’t make a big deal out of Christmas. The holidays are still difficult for me at times. I don’t even know it until I am watching something and I just begin to cry and I don’t even know why. They were always horrible. This was a Christmas that looked like it might end up a good one but . . . It does have a lasting effect in terms of a sort of sorrow that presents itself when I don’t even know what is going on – I worked hard at making sure I did not become my mom especially. Most people find it hard to think of these kinds of things and I must say it made me so sad to know that your life was a very crazy and abusive one as well. Heartbreaking really and if you were born deaf as many people are then how did you ever understand what was going on in your house. You are an amazing hero in my eyes and not just because of what you went through either. You write beautifully and I can tell you are a tender soul because of your writing. I am praying that God will bring you together with a partner that is deserving of your kind heart and that will love you always. By the way we went to see Avatar on Christmas day! It was fun. Sending you my love, hugs and best wishes for this new year, may it be your best ever. Joni❤️
Hi, Joni. Thanks for your kind comment. Just a note on my deafness–it began when I was 18 and I came down with a bad case of meningitis, which damaged the auditory nerves in both ears. Up until then, my hearing was normal. So, I can speak normally. I just can’t hear worth a hoot anymore. I think I’d be able to deal with my deafness better had I been born deaf–it’s much easier to accept something if it’s the only thing you’ve ever known. But I had 18 years of normal hearing before my progressive deafness began, so it’s been hard for me to come to terms with the loss of who I was and what I had. Anyway, just wanted to clarify for you. 🙂 Glad to hear you enjoyed the the new Avatar sequel. I hope to see it once it comes out on DVD and I can watch it with closed-captions. 🙂 Take care, friend! 🙂
Thank you so much for sharing your story with me I am honored. I am so sorry this happened to you my friend. I also agree that being deaf after being able to hear for eighteen years would be worse then never having that sense. I feel very blessed for all of my senses. It probably has made you a sensitive man who appreciates every gift. Thanks so much for sharing this with me. Blessings, prayers and peace my friend. Love and hugs, Joni
Wow. LOVED THAT ENDING!!! I had a sick feeling in my stomach when I flipped over and continued reading. As everyone knows, these situations often end with the woman in prison, charged with murder, after years of having been abused. What a refreshing resolution. Amazing. Well told, beautiful Joni! Sending so much Love Your way!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you so very much beautiful KatyDid. I know exactly what you mean. Men get away with horrible abuse all the time not just here in the United States but everywhere. Always have you in my heart Katy – Scott is so funny if he sees you posted before I did, I will hear him yell out, “Katy just posted.” It is very sweet. He knows how much I care about you. Big hug, lots of love and prayers for blessings! Joni
My pleasure, dear JK!!! And You just gifted a huge smile and laugh! Please tell Scott I said thank You!!! Sending huge hugs and TONS of Love to You Both!!! 💖💖💖!
Thank you sweetheart and right back at you. 🌹🦋🤗❤️
Congratulations Joni on your wonderful contributions in poetry 🌸💕 Blessings to you and your loved ones
Blessings to you too Henrietta, I was glad to see you were with some family around Christmas, what a blessing. Don’t know if you have noticed but MasticadoresUSA is looking for new submittals and you can send your own photograph too. She has an invitation up on her site now. Just wanted to let you know in case you felt like sending her some of your writings. Big hugs and lots of love to you and your family Henrietta. ❤️
Great story, Joni!
Thank you so very much Dawn. That means a lot coming from a great story teller. Blessings and thank you my friend.
Thank you so much, Joni, for your wonderful contribution. You’re immensely talented and it’s a pleasure and honor to publish your words. 🙂
Thank you so much Terveen, your very gracious words, they mean so much to me, and your mentorship for me is a blessing. Big hugs, Joni
Very emotional. A true gripping of reality and a bad packaging for true human respect and love in a marriage. 😞
Thank you so much my friend. I just found this is spam. I had a feeling I needed to look and I am so glad I did. What a truly kind comment and what you said was so utterly true. Sending you hugs, blessings and appreciation. AOC does some truly great work and I am about to go bake some scones from a recipe from your site. xoxoxoxo
Thank you dear Joni. Thank you for the kind words. SPAM IS A MONSTER! Thanks for looking. Maybe we’ve said it before so, again May you new year be off to a triumphant start. Scones are terrific. I think I will go and have one now. Hugs!☕️🥐❤️🥮☕️
You are so welcome. I a grateful I saw your sweet message. We ate all eight in two days, so great with a great cup of coffee and a little butter. Thank you, and I wish you a most wonderful and blessed new year as well. Love and hugs, Joni xoxoxo