Turkey Day

Four days and countless turkey meals later, I am finally able to take the time to write about my Thanksgiving dinner.

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving surprise. The Italian and I were scurrying around the house like little mice, in an effort to finish the last-minute housework when the doorbell rang. My husband went to the door and returned a few minutes later with two boxes. They had traveled from Indiana only to arrive on our Italian doorstep on Thanksgiving Day. They were care packages from my parents. One box was addressed to me while the other box was for the Italian. They were filled with jelly beans, peanut butter cups, Hershey kisses, brownie mixes, packets of various seasonings, holiday towels...the list goes on. I had been feeling a little homesick due to the holiday and these boxes filled with love and sweets really made my day. Thank you Mom and Dad! Your timing could not have been better!

We had invited ten of our friends (all Italian) to join us in celebrating our American holiday. Everyone was happy to have been invited and embraced their first Thanksgiving dinner with much enthusiasm. Since it wasn't a holiday in Italy, we had dinner at 8 pm (the normal Italian dinner time). This allowed people to get home from work and then get to our house.


Carlos had been snoozing (and cooking) in the oven for over seven hours when the first of our guests arrived. Our friends Mirco and Francesca showed up wearing Indian headdresses! Francesca had painted her face in the colors of the American flag while Mirco (who happens to be our mayor) wore the Indian chief headdress with the Italian flag colors painted on his face. Francesca presented me with an ear of plastic corn. She explained that she had read that corn was first gift from the Indians to the Pilgrims. It was so funny!




Francesca and Mirco had brought enough Indiana headdresses for everyone to wear except me. Francesca claimed that I was the "Puritan" of the group and therefore would not receive a crown of feathers.



The twelve of us sat at the table while the priest said a prayer. Someone had seen a movie (or a TV show) where everyone was holding hands during the Thanksgiving prayer. They asked if we should do this and so we did. Don Marco said a touching prayer that brought tears to my eyes as I thought of family, thousands of miles away, enjoying a feast of their own.

It felt like a real Thanksgiving holiday even if we were in Italy. Mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, corn, turkey and wine... the only thing missing was English. As we were stuffing our faces with another round of turkey my mind drifted to thoughts of the first Thanksgiving. The Indians didn't speak the language of the Pilgrims and the Pilgrims didn't speak the language of the Indians. Somehow they were able to communicate and even planed a feast. With so many people talking too fast and at the same time, it was very difficult for me understand what was being said. Even though I lacked the language, I felt a true sense of friendship from everyone sitting at our table.

Four of the women who came gave me a gift. It was a beautiful winter scarf with a note that read:

Dear Cindy,
Siamo felici di partecipare a questa festa (we are happy to participate in this feast)! Hope your Thanksgiving is filled with happiness today and always....

These women have always gone out of their way to make me feel at home in Fusignano. Their gift and note has touched my heart in way that they will never know.

After dinner, two desserts, coffee and grappa, things came to an end. One person got up to leave and everyone decided it was also time to go. After one last picture, we said good night to our guests. The door shut and the Italian asked me if I knew what time it was. I thought it was around 10:30 pm. I was shocked when he told me that it was just after midnight; our Thanksgiving feast had gone on for over five hours!



Too tired to want to clean up the mess and in too much pain to care, I left the dishes for another day. I went to bed feeling stuffed and truly blessed.