This week the Marine Corps Graduation took place two days early instead of Friday because of the Thanksgiving Holiday.  As I thought about all of the families who traveled here this week to see their loved ones graduate I wondered where they would be for Thanksgiving.  Would they make it home before the holiday or have to eat at a restaurant?  That reminded me of my first Thanksgiving as a Marine spouse.

We lived in a small apartment outside of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.   At that time married Marines would invite unmarried Marines to dinner so they didn’t have to eat at the chow hall.  My husband, Michael invited a LCpl named George to spend the day with us.  George first declined explaining that his parents are coming in from Corning, New York.  Michael countered with, “Well they are invited too. Now you have no good reason to spend Thanksgiving in a hotel room.”

At first I panicked; I’d never cooked a turkey before and to be exposed in front of strangers as I attempted my first big dinner terrified me.  But then I wondered how I would feel if I had to eat at some restaurant instead of a home-cooked meal with good company.  Mike offered words of encouragement and offered to help me.   We even bought extra patterned dishes so I would have the proper number of place settings.

From the moment they arrived, George’s mom and dad emitted a warmth and friendliness that made me immediately like them.   As they waited patiently for my turkey to cook we talked about various subjects like, “Did I know they had a Correlle dish factory in Corning, New York?”  “How was the weather during the winter?” and “How did we like living in Jacksonville?”

Even though I tried to keep my cool, my fear must have shown through as I struggled to be a good hostess and make sure I didn’t burn the food.  His mom kept asking “Can I bring this to the table?” or “Can I help wash the dishes?”  Thinking back on it I should have allowed her to help, but at the time I thought I needed to do everything myself so I politely declined her offers.

Michael made sure everyone had something to drink and finger food to nosh on.  He also helped me plan out a cooking schedule the day before so my gravy, sweet potatoes, and other food, arrived at the table hot and steamy at the same time as the turkey.

By the end of the day I knew my first Thanksgiving dinner succeeded; everyone ate with abandon, lounged and laughed without so much as a dropped plate or undercooked potato.   Our guests left with full bellies and enjoyed the rest of the weekend together.

Several weeks later a package arrived. George’s parents sent a delightful surprise, two Corning Ware mixing bowls in the Woodland pattern to match my dishes.

I never saw George’s parents again.  Eventually the Marine Corps took Mike and George to different places.  My Woodland patterned Correlle dishes wound up in a garage sale at some point, but I continue to use the 2 mixing bowls to this very day.  As for Mike and George, they reconnected on social media.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving this year full of friends, family and maybe an extra guest or two.