Best Christmas Dinner Ever

Best Christmas Dinner—Ever

December 26, 2009

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known to God. 
Philippians 4:6

The computer/modem decided to take another vacation, but I still did some writing and am now posting it.

Yesterday’s wonder at the shelter reminded me of our Christmas two years ago (December 2007). It was bittersweet…more bitter than sweet.

Two days before Christmas, we got a phone call from Steve’s brother’s wife that her husband (Steve’s only sibling) was hospitalized for the second time in two months. He was quite ill. Prognosis was not good. We were able to book a plane for Christmas day to get us back to Connecticut. When we got off the plane, we rented a car. We had two vehicles in Connecticut, but due to the timeframe, we had no one to pick us up at the airport. We kept the car overnight and returned with one of our own vehicles. This was a sad trip for us. But, I guess God always gives you something that is humorous in most situations. This was no exception.

We had gotten the dog into his vet’s kennel. They and the dog’s regular doggie hotel had been booked solid for that time frame. But, because it was an emergency, the vet did some rearranging and squeezing, and the dog was left there. On December 26 the tight quarters at the vet’s loosened up, and Frisky was able to enjoy better quarters.

Anyway, we left our house very early in the morning. Tampa and Orlando airports are almost equal distance from our home—about two hours’ drive. We had been able to book out of Tampa. Since this whole affair happened quickly, we did little planning (or for that matter thinking). For some reason, we did not eat breakfast as we figured we could get something on the way. WRONG!!! On Christmas day, even the convenience stores had shorter hours. They were not opening until well after we passed them. I wonder how many convenience stores there are on Route 19…many is as close as I can come. Well, there’s got to be something along the way. WRONG again.

We got to the airport. I sat with our luggage (all carry on). When we fly to Connecticut (until this last spring) we took little with us as we had our house there with all essentials…some non perishable food, clothes, boots, stove, warm bed.

Quiznos had a breakfast “sandwich.” Steve ordered one of these. He came back to the place in which I was sitting. I went to order one as it looked good, and the price was not outrageous. They stop serving breakfast fairly early (I don’t remember the time). But, when I got there, it was two minutes past the time. As you know, the large corporations rarely give their employees flexibility when it comes to the rules. No breakfast sandwich for me. I wondered around the concourse, trying to find something that might stick to my ribs and not cost me an arm and a leg. I settled for a $3.00 hotdog, which was only OK and fairly small.

One knows one is not going to get much to eat on a plane these days, but I was hopin’. Peanuts—two packages—and a coke. Wow! That was healthy and filling!!!

When we got off the plane, we went right to the hospital. A large one in Hartford. From previous experience, I knew they had a cafeteria. Opened all day. WRONG again. Because it was Christmas, the hours were cut back so that the employees could spend some of the day with their families. They had just closed the lunchtime serving. I applaud them for that. HOWEVER, it did not help us. We visited Tom a short while. He was quite tired. So, we left…several hours before the cafeteria was due to open again.

Well, we can grab sometime on Route 44 going west toward our house. One more time WRONG! There are eight gazillion restaurants on that route…none of which are open on Christmas afternoon.

Our friends Mary and Jim live on the way to our house. Maybe, we can stop there and mooch some sort of meal or, at the very least, find some food to “steal.” They, of course, would never consider that we were “stealing,” but that they were helping friends. We have a key to their home, which, of course, we left on the key chain at home. They often change their “secret” place for hiding the key that they keep for emergencies (which is a good and safe thing to do). They had not told us the new “secret” place, because we were, after all, in Florida and did not need to know where it was. (When we were in Connecticut, we almost always knew where it was). They were not home, and we could not find the key. Now what!

Then I remembered that they had planned to go to their daughter’s house which was only about five miles out of the way. We continued on our journey. Voile le! Lots of people at Karen and John’s. They welcomed us with open arms, but with little food. They had finished their meal. By this time, it was evening. There was a small piece of steak left. Steve got that. Lots of mashed potatoes. Steve ate most of them, but I had some as well. She looked in her fridge. Lo and Behold! She found left over manicotti. Steve was full with his steak and potatoes. I am not that fond of potatoes, so Karen heated up the manicotti. Mashed potatoes and manicotti (and a mere taste of salad). Who would have ever thought that would be the most delicious Christmas dinner ever. I was so grateful to finally get a meal that it did not matter. Anyway, they had not yet had dessert which was a peanut butter cream pie. Steve did not eat that, but I certainly enjoyed it.

We stayed there until Mary and Jim decided it was time to go home, enjoying the Christmas and the family (two teen-aged children). By this time, it was getting late. Our home furnace was turned way down. No hot water. And on and on. Mary and Jim invited us to spend the night with them which we did.

We stayed in Connecticut three weeks, visiting various family members and friends. And, of course, we spent as much time with Tom as we could, but it was very limited. He had a tough time tolerating company; he tired easily. Tom got worse. We left mid January. Tom passed a week later…two days after his wedding anniversary and eight days before his sixty-first birthday. We miss you, Tom.

But, I rarely think of him without thinking of our hungry journey. Tom had a wonderful sense of humor and is probably laughing with me when I think of that meal.

Hooray for mashed potatoes, manicotti and peanut butter pie!