"Sorry, I can't made it," the voice stated on the other end. I let the caller know it was okay and thought little of it. But then the phone kept ringing periodically, always the same brief apology followed by my reassurance that it wasn't a big deal and not to worry. As the next morning found me stirring around the kitchen, a 20 pound turkey slow cooking in an oven barely large enough to hold it, the phone began where it left off the night before. With two hours or so to go before the bird was ready for the knife, I was down to one single guest who had hadn't called to cancel. So when the phone rang again, I was more than a bit downtrodden to hear her voice when I answered.
"Hey Jerry, this is Ann," she said. (Just recently remembered her name after it suddenly popped into my mind. The last I heard, she is a married mother now living in either Taiwan or China.)
"Please tell me you aren't calling to cancel," I said, assuming the worst.
"Actually, no. I was going to ask if I can bring some friends," she asked.
"Absolutely," I replied, relieved. "Bring everyone you have!"
"Oh really?" she replied, shocked.
As it turns out, every single red-blooded American coworker I invited bailed on me within 12 hours of Thanksgiving and this one girl, a student and a waitress at the Chinese restaurant in the same building as my office, saved the day. You might ask how did this girl got an invite when she wasn't a coworker. I unashamedly admit it was because she was incredibly nice and reasonably attractive. Plus, I'm quite sure the restaurant owner's wife was trying to hook us up. In the end, she showed up with three older Chinese men who all worked at restaurants in a local mall, spoke almost no English, and feasted happily at my first ever International Thanksgiving party. After eating, they stayed and we chatted via our mutual friend utilizing her bilingual interpreting skills, and they played around with my guitar afterwards though none of us had the skill to make it really purr. When they finally left, I profess that I was won over. I would try and continue this style of party the next year. As it turned out, I found myself cooking for Asians and other international students for the next 13 years. For moments such as these, I give thanks.
Now there are many other reasons that the tradition carried on as it did. More often than not, I was dating an Asian girl each thanksgiving and typically I cooked for her and some mutual friends. On one of these occasions, I made the most unpardonable mistake a cook can make on Thanksgiving; I forgot about the turkey in the oven and when I finally did remember it, it was drastically overcooked. When I say overcooked, I mean the breast meat had separated from the bone by an inch or more, so it was essentially ruined. I truly wanted to cry, because this holiday meal just isn't complete without turkey. But then, just as with my kickoff thanksgiving, an Asian girl came to my rescue. My girlfriend at the time saw my plans to chuck the turkey and ask if she could "try something." I got out of her way and began putting the ham in the oven as by all estimations, it would have to feed the masses. While it baked, she whipped out some Japanese cooking oils and other things that have since slipped my mind, took all the breast meat, pulled it apart, and soon had that dry meat in a frying pan with her concoction of sauces (to include some barbecue sauce I had) and by the time the guests arrived, she had resurrected that turkey meat into the most delicious turkey I have ever had, before or since. My guests all concurred and to her was bestowed all the credit. What an amazing cook! For moments such as these, I give thanks.
And then there were some years when I enjoyed cooking for a few friends, classmates, and such - minus any relationship attachments. On one such occasion, I had invited some classmates, other students I knew, and some old friends over. A few months afterwards, I was reminded of just how international my soirees had actually become. As it turned out. Two girls from the party (unbeknownst to them) met up, on a train in Spain,and took a seat next to one another simply because they were both Asian. After making small talk, they were amazed to find out that both lived in Oklahoma. They laughed over the coincidence and decided to add each other on Facebook. When they did, they realized they both had a mutual friend - me. They were even more stunned to realize that they had met just months before - in my living room over Thanksgiving dinner. For moments such as these, I give thanks.
Now there were at least 32 Thanksgivings prior to those mentioned. The earliest were no doubt spent at my grandparents house, who lived next door. God bless them, they were the best. I celebrated many holidays in that house even as it changed ownership to my parents and my grandpa or as we called him "Pap" stayed on with us as a widower. I adored those times and was happy to bring my wife in and expose her to country Thanksgivings, Christmases and the like. During the later part of that marriage, I often cooked for her family, ate with them, and then at my parent's place. I was blessed with a great family, wonderful in-laws, and ever advancing cooking skills thanks in large part to stolen recipes from mom. For even older moments such as these, I give thanks.
So what is the break with tradition? This year, I will take my best friend and another close friend "out". This is being done in large part to the declining number of local Asian friends I have, as most that I've had have moved either back home or somewhere else. Besides, I truly could benefit from not having all the leftovers in my refrigerator (or should I say - converted to fat along my waistline?). Eventually, all good things don't necessarily have to end, but change they do. So for 2015, I'll be tipping a waitress considerably more than normal because unlike her, I don't have to work, but thank God I could have if I wanted. Most people would be depressed to be away from family during the holidays, but by serving up Thanksgiving meals for others, I was blessed with memories of some of the finest people I could have ever hoped for around my table. To anyone who has eaten at my place, whether you were from the U.S., Taiwan, China, Korea, Thailand, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam or if you were one of my friends from the African continent, I was so pleased that you showed up and partook. There is something wonderful about looking back nostalgically at how blessed I've been over the past 13 years. I say it again, for moments such as all of them, I give thanks.