Two Turkeys For Luke

Introduction

The following story is all true - except for some of the made up parts.

Chapter One

Luke is smiling today. He jumps off the school bus and waits for the bell to ring with the rest of his class. Most days the bell rings too early, before the morning game of tag or kickball is done, but not today. Today the bell is taking forever and Luke can’t wait for school to start. Today is the first of the month and that means it is Holiday Time. Holiday Time is the best day of the month because Luke’s class gets to make decorations for the classroom and the refrigerator at home.

Last month was Columbus Day and Luke made three sailing ships; the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. The best part was the Conquistador hat that Luke made and got to wear home. Mommy let him wear it till Daddy got home and Daddy let him wear it all through dinner. Afterwards Luke and Daddy played explorers till it was bed time. The couch was their ship. Luke wore his hat and Daddy wore a bed sheet like a cape. That was why Luke loved Holiday Time. School was more fun than usual and home was even more fun.

This month was Luke’s favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, and Luke knew all about that Holiday. At his house, they never missed a Thanksgiving celebration. All of his Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles and even neighbors and friends would come over for a big dinner feast.

The bell was ringing! Luke’s Teacher Miss Angie was outside and she was dressed like a Pilgrim lady! Holiday Time was here!

“Good Morning Class!” said Miss Angie

“Does everyone know what time it is?” she asked.

“HOLIDAY TIME!!!!” they all shouted in unison.

"That’s right! Who can tell me what holiday we are going to learn about today?”

“THANKSGIVING!!!!” came the reply.

“Correct!! Let’s all come inside and put away our things and take our place in the story center and get started.”

Miss Angie read a story about the people called Pilgrims, and the boat they sailed to America named the Mayflower, and how a Native American named Squanto helped them learn to plant corn. Luke loved stories about sailing ships and wondered what kind of hat he would get to make today. After the story, Miss Angie taught the class a lesson on Thanksgiving including the original date it was celebrated, December 9, 1621, and how we celebrate it now on the fourth Thursday of November. She talked about all the traditions, and since they lived in Michigan, Luke loved the football part. Luke loved football. Luke’s Daddy loved football too. They played all the time and everywhere. Luke would be the running back or the quarter back and Daddy would be the defense and try to tackle Luke; but he was too fast and always made the touchdown. Sometimes they were Lions but mostly they were Wolverines. Mommy was the referee. She would pretend to blow a whistle and tell them to play outside or that it was a time out and that dinner was ready. At the end of the lesson, Luke raised his hand.

“Yes Luke?”

“Miss Angie, what about the other Thanksgiving? You forgot to talk about the other one.”

“There is only one Thanksgiving Luke.” she answered.

“No, there are two. One with Pilgrims like you said, and the other one with Doctors and Nurses.” said Luke.

“I’m afraid I don’t know about that one, but I’ll look it up tonight and we can talk about it during our next Holiday Time.” Miss Angie smiled when she said it. She always smiled in a sun-shiny way that reminded Luke of Mommy. Her smile meant good things.

“OK, but if you need any help let me know because we celebrate both Thanksgivings in my house and I know all about how it works.”

Guliana asked, “What do you have for dinner when you have the other Thanksgiving?”

“Turkey, of course! It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without Turkey!”said Luke.

Ian asked: “You get two turkeys at your house?”

“Yep, and they’re both big ones too.” Luke loved turkey. The bigger the better.

“What about pies? Do you have pies?” asked Ava.

“My one Nanna makes the apple pie for the Doctors and my Grams makes the cherry pie for the Nurses. But we put candles on them and everybody helps blow them out.”

“That sounds like a birthday party. I love my birthday party.” said Guliana.

“Why are the Doctors and Nurses there? In case somebody gets a bump? I got a scrape yesterday and it still hurts. LOOK!” said Ian.

“UGHHH!” “OWWW!” “YUKKK!” came from the whole class.

“I’m not sure why the Doctors and Nurses come; Mommy says we are not related but that we’ll be family forever. Anyway, it works just like the other Thanksgiving but we have candles on the pies and we all blow them out and then Mommy and Daddy run around hugging everybody…”

Miss Angie says “Wow what a great story Luke! Thank you! Now we are going to make Pilgrim hats that you can all wear home.”

Hats!

Luke loved Holiday Time; it was the best school day of the month.

“Wow that’s a big hat! You look like a regular Miles Standish!” said Luke’s Mommy. “How was school today?”

“Great, it was Holiday Time and we read stories and played games and made cool hats. Miss Angie put a note in my folder.”

“A note? Well let’s get inside and I’ll read the note while you have snack. Do you want to wear your hat till Daddy comes home?”

Luke’s answer was not made with words, just a nod of his head and a gap toothed grin as he ran inside shouting “I’m Miles Standish and this is my friend Squanto!!!” His Mommy’s smile was bigger than his as she picked up his backpack and thought about couch ships and bed sheet capes.

©Andrew Barter 2007

Chapter Two,

“Thank you for coming today.” said Miss Angie. “Luke is a wonderful boy. So filled with life and very helpful in class. He is right on track academically, but I was concerned about his ability to see between make believe and the real world. During our last Holiday Time he insisted that there were two Thanksgivings. His story about the other thanksgiving was very creative and entertained the whole class, but many of the children can be confused by this and rather than correct him in class I thought you could review it with him at home.”

There was silence for a few seconds while Luke’s Mommy and Daddy looked at one another and then laughter broke the tension. Luke’s Daddy smiled and said “Miss Angie, I think I can clear this all up. You see in our house we celebrate Thanksgiving twice a year. Once in November and one more time in March.”

“In March? May I ask why?”

“Certainly, when Luke was a baby he got very sick and was diagnosed with a form of cancer.”

“Ohh, I had no idea. Is he well now?”

“Yes, very well, thank you for asking. The Doctors and the Nurses worked very hard and his surgery was a complete success. So on March 20^th, every year, we give thanks for the miracle that was his surgery and the miracle that is Luke. We host a full blown turkey day party with all the trimmings.”

“And candles on the pies?”

“Oh, I see you got the whole run down from Luke. One candle for every year since the surgery. We tried cake the first year but it just didn’t fit with the theme. Maybe you could come this year? The 20^th is a Saturday and you can bring your whole family, trust me, we won’t run out of food.”

“Thank you for the invitation, I would be honored to attend. Mrs. Baranowski, I wonder if we couldn’t do something with Holiday Time that would honor this very special day. The kids would love it, but I could use a little help with the planning.”

“I would love to do something. Whatever you need, I would be thrilled to help.” said Luke’s Mommy.

“Nothing too complicated, let me think it through and we’ll talk as it gets closer.”

Both Miss Angie and Luke’s Mommy smiled big sun-shiny smiles and that meant very good things.

©Andrew Barter 2007

Chapter Three

“Mommy, why are you driving me to school today?” said Luke.

“I’m helping Miss Angie with a special edition of Holiday Time.”

Luke’s Mommy saw his eyes light up with that look that little boys get when there are puppies or dynamite nearby; and she cautioned, “Do not tell anyone when we get to school! Miss Angie wants it to be a surprise.”

“I won’t tell, I promise! Oh Boy! Did you make cup cakes? I love cup cakes! What flavor? Can I have one now? Do we have extras for after school? Is it my birthday?”

“Hmmm Let me see, Yes I made cupcakes, yes I know you love them, I made some yellow and some chocolate, no you can’t have one now, yes I have extras for later, but we have to save one for Daddy, and no it is not your birthday. WHEW! I made it all in one breath!”

Luke was smiling his sun-shiny smile now. He loved it when Mommy listened to every word he said. They held hands as they walked out to the car and got buckled in.

The bell rang and Miss Angie came outside dressed in green surgical scrubs including the cap and the mask.

“Good Morning Class!” said Miss Angie.

“Does everyone know what time it is?” she asked.

“HOLIDAY TIME!!!!” they all shouted in unison.

“That’s right! Who can tell me what holiday we are going to learn about today?”

No one answered but Luke was beginning to put it all together. Mommy helping out, the special Holiday Time, the cupcakes. He raised his hand.

“Yes Luke?”

“Is it Thanksgiving?” said Luke.

“We did that one already.” said Maria.

“I could do it again.” said Quan as he rubbed his tummy. “I really like turkey.”

“I really like turkey too.” said Miss Angie. “Let’s all go inside and see what we have planned, prepare to be amazed!” and then Miss Angie smiled her sun-shiny smile that everyone knew meant good things.

Every one sat down in the story center and Mrs. Avripas introduced Luke’s Mommy as the guest story teller. They both had sun-shiny smiles so everyone knew this was going to be a good story.

Luke’s Mommy began telling the story of a little baby with a bump on his arm that made him look like he had big muscles. The baby's Mommy was concerned, but everyone said not to worry, it would go away on its own. One day the bump got so big that the baby couldn’t bend his arm so a special doctor came to look at it. She asked a lot of questions and played with the baby. The lady Doctor said they should have some tests to be sure. When the tests came back, the doctor used the word cancer. The baby's Mommy and Daddy were very worried and so they called everyone they knew and asked them to pray for the baby. And they asked all their friends to call all of their friends and ask them to pray too. And so the baby had old people and young people, boys and girls, husbands and wives, big kids and little kids, even Nuns and many people far away that had never seen the baby or even knew the family praying for him. The baby had an operation and the bump went away with just a little boo boo left behind where the bump used to be. The boo boo went away and the Doctor said the baby was fine and there was no more cancer. The Mommy and Daddy were so happy they had a big party to thank everyone that helped make the baby better. It was a Thanksgiving party.

“Where is the baby now?” asked Lynn.

“I would pray for that baby, I love babies. I have a baby sister.” said Tori.

“If we pray for the baby, can we go to the party? I like parties. Can we have a party for the baby?” asked Tara.

“Well those are very good questions let me see…” said Luke’s Mommy. “Hmmm, thank you for offering to pray for the baby, yes, we are going to have a party today, I love babies too, you asked where the baby is now, well the baby is a big kid now and his name is Luke, and he is right here in this class. Whew! I got it all out in one breath!!” Luke’s Mommy was smiling her big sun- shiny smile but no one noticed, they were all around Luke asking a million questions.

“Did it hurt?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Were you awake or asleep?”

“Asleep, I think?”

“Do you have a scar?”

“Yep, right here.” And Luke showed everyone his arm. They had of course seen his arm many times. He had with him every day in school and the scar was always there but no one noticed.

Miss Angie said, “All great questions but I have some of my own. Who would like to say thank you to Luke’s Mommy for the story?”

“THANKYOU!!” they all said in unison.

“Now, who would like to make a hat?” said Mrs. Avripas. “As soon as hats are done we have a special lunch and desert treat planned.”

Hats!

Luke loved hats and he loved Holiday Time even more. Today’s hats were just like the ones the doctors wore with the strings down the back and a mask and everything. When the class went to the cafeteria they had a turkey dinner waiting. When everyone was finished Luke’s Mommy passed out cupcakes that looked like turkeys.

“Class we have one extra cup cake, is it alright if I give it too Luke?” asked Luke’s Mommy.

Ian stood up and said “All in favor of two turkeys for Luke say AYE!”

“AYE! AYE! AYE!” came the voices all around the room.

“Do I really get two turkeys Mommy?” asked Luke.

“This year, and every year Luke.” Luke’s Mommy had her biggest sun-shiny smile and he could see her eyes were very shiny too. He gave her his best, biggest hug and said “Thank you Mommy.”

“Thank you Luke; that was a great big hug.”

The End

©Andrew Barter 2007