Holiday: Talking Turkey

“Gobble, gobble” to everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving!

This wonderful family holiday is celebrated by Americans around the world, no matter where they live. It's the time for families to get together and share a delicious feast. The day often includes watching football on TV and planning for “Black Friday” shopping deals!

It is a genuine family holiday and many of us have touching or hilarious stories about Thanksgivings past.

MyHeritage invites you to share your funny stories for the chance to win a one-year PremiumPlus membership. Simply comment on this post or post comments on our Facebook wall or, if you can fit it into 140 characters, tweet them @myheritage. The winning story will be announced on Friday.

Since I can’t participate in the competition as I'm part of the MyHeritage team, here’s my hilarious holiday story.

My husband and I were living in Teheran a very long time ago and I began preparing for “Turkey Day” – the literal translation of what we called the holiday. Turkeys were generally sold in parts in those days, and, in fact, many families did not even have ovens. If they did, they were used for storing pots and pans.

We had a great stove with an oven and I needed a turkey. I went to one of the modern supermarkets and told them I needed a whole turkey, cleaned (I did specify that!) and delivered to the house early on Thursday morning so I could stuff and roast it for our American friends who were joining us. “No problem,” said the manager. That alone should have been a red flag.

Thursday arrived, the stuffing was made, the pumpkin pies ready.  The only thing missing was Mr. Turkey. Even the table was set and ready. I had scoured all the stores that often sold American specialty items (cranberry sauce, Miracle Whip for leftover sandwiches and pumpkin puree for the pies).

I started clock watching: 8am (the promised delivery time) came and went; 9am came and went. There were a few phone calls to the store manager. Finally, at about 10am, the doorbell rang. Into my waiting arms was thrust a large brown-paper wrapped parcel, suspiciously warm.

I ran to the kitchen, unwrapped it and nearly fainted. Here was a huge turkey with everything but the gobble. Feathers, neck, head, feet, beady little eyes – I mean EVERYTHING. Having never cleaned a turkey, let alone a chicken – although my grandmother was probably a wiz at such tasks – I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and was doing both when my husband walked into the kitchen and saw the “thing” on the counter.

OK, I asked him, what do I do now? Always the fast thinker, he called his mother and told her about the problem (I could hear her laughing over the phone) and asked if we could borrow her maid to help with the problem. Sure, she said, come pick her up.

He came back with the woman, who was also laughing hysterically over an American bride who didn’t know how to clean a bird, inside or out. Thankfully, she performed that task in record time, and Mr. Turkey looked just fine, stuffed and trussed and sitting in his pan in the oven. It was delicious!

We tell this story every Thanksgiving, and it is still funny. The moral of the story: Beware large brown-paper parcels that are suspiciously warm. At least the turkey was fresh, having been dispatched so recently!

Now, what’s your best story about the holiday? Did you celebrate it in some exotic locale? Did something funny happen? Something touching? What are your traditions for the holiday?

We’re waiting to read them, so share them in the comments below.