Turkey necks remind me of Dad

We made a turkey dinner last night to celebrate moving into the new house. Rob really wanted to make a "Thanksgiving" dinner so we did it. I've never had a turkey dinner outside of Thanksgiving so it was kind of strange doing all the things that are saved for just one day a year. We spent Thanksgiving last year in Tennessee so it seemed like it fit, even if it was the end of April.

Rob took all the giblets (that's what they're called, right?) out of the turkey so I could use it all to make the gravy. We make our turkey dinner the way my parents do. I have only eaten Thanksgiving dinner this way, if my mom has made it any differently it has to have been so long ago that I was too young to remember. When I started boiling all those things and I thought of my dad. Growing up my dad looked forward to eating the turkey neck. My mom would cook it all day and when that neck was tender she'd take it out of the pot for my dad to eat while the turkey finished cooking. My brother and I always wanted to eat the neck too, since it seemed so awesome that my dad got this special treat each Thanksgiving that none of us got to have. I remember a few times my dad did give us a little piece of the turkey meat off the neck and we were so excited.

Looking at that turkey neck on the plate (I took a picture of it but it just looked too gross to post) made me miss my dad. The girls were excited to try pieces of the neck and we ate it together. Rob thinks it's gross and maybe everyone else in the world thinks it's gross too, but it reminds me of being a kid.  I wish my parents would come out for a visit. I am not very close with my dad but I do love him.

My childhood was pretty crummy, I don't plan on ever going into the details of my misery as a child on this blog but it sucked. I hated both of my parents for a very long time! As an adult I've learned to, I guess, get over it. I choose to not dwell on the bad and to remember the good times. Thanksgiving was usually a good memory. I try hard to make each day happy for my girls and I hope that I am doing a better job than my parents did. I realize that the parents I was given made me the way I am and I hope that each of my kids will be a much better person than I am! My parents are wonderful to my girls and they love them very much and I think that is what makes it easier to have a relationship with my parents, their love for my kids!

P.S. The turkey was DELICIOUS and we all had a great dinner. Now, if only we had our kitchen table so we could have all eaten together. I can't wait until we get our stuff from California. Hopefully it will be soon!!!