AN ODE TO TOM TURKEY

Daddy had a pet turkey when he was growing up. I'm not sure how old he was when all of this occurred, but I do remember him recalling many times over how much he truly loved that turkey. The loss of that pet was a hard story for him to tell, so mostly we heard it from Aunt Bib, who recounted his genuine affection, and the very painful demise of that much beloved pet.

Tom was unusually attached to daddy, who had a true way with the animals on the farm and used to hide behind the trees when Grandpa would call the kids to help him round the chickens up to be slaughtered. No one particularly liked that job, which was a weekly chore for the farm hands, including the kids. But dad had a particularly tender heart where it came to 'all things nature'. He purportedly did everything he could to avoid being a part of that detested chore. Lucky for him, Grandpa's own tender streak meant that Tom, in his exalted position as daddy's pet, was exempted from the trip to the chopping block.

This turkey evidently had a fair mean streak, and was known to attack anyone who picked on my daddy. One day, I guess what one would call the 'local town bully' decided to test his fate with ol' Tom, and with daddy, who was much younger and small for his age as well. The bully got walloped by Tom for his efforts, and if I recall correctly, Tom had spurs, so the walloping apparently left this kid slightly worse for the wear after the fight ended. That night, the bully's father paid a visit to Grandpa, the result of which meant that Tom's days were numbered. As it happened, it was near Thanksgiving, and Grandpa decided that Tom would be the Thanksgiving Feast for that year's festivities.

I'm sure it couldn't have been easy on Grandpa to manage this. No matter what, he loved his children very deeply, but feelings aside, Tom was a liability to his family, and he was getting meaner in his old age, to boot. It must be said that regardless of the fact that this was during the Great Depression when every meal was hard-earned, and especially savored for the sacrifices it took to bring it to the table, not one family member was able to partake in the Thanksgiving Turkey that year, according to my Aunt Bib, and my Granny.

Dad never spoke of Tom's death, nor would he convey his feelings about the incident that sent him to the chopping block. This was one of the rare times when his infamous humor, and his wonderful gift of storytelling quite failed him. And one story that will go down in the family annals as a painful, indelible memory for them all.