I wouldn’t have predicted that a 1980’s TV dinner would be the antagonist in my most recent nightmare. But yeah, that’s what I woke up from this morning. Near-death by turkey dinner. ππ€¦π»ββοΈ I’m not sure if you’ll be familiar with this brand and packaging, but the family sized turkey slices came in a cardboard tray slightly bigger and deeper than a typical TV dinner container, and it had a thin layer of plastic covering the entire thing that you peel off before serving and eating. π€ Well I managed to forget that important last step in my dream this morning. π³
We were in the house where I lived when I was in elementary school, but I was my current age or at least close to it. I was the one doing the cooking, and it was Dad, Uncle Jay, and Shannon that were there for dinner. π€·π»ββοΈ Unfortunately there wasn’t much plot to this one, because as soon as I served them in the dining room I went outside to my treehouse to eat by myself… and I must have been extra hungry, because I just started scarfing down the turkey slices.
I immediately wondered if there were mushrooms or something else “gross” in the gravy, because there was an odd texture that I wasn’t expecting. π€’ That texture eventually began to build up and clog my throat, and when I stuck my fingers into my mouth I began pulling out these huge, gravy covered strips of cellophane. π§ Much like a cat that found a stray piece of plastic bag to chew on, only the very end of the plastic was stuck there at the edge of my mouth – allowing me to pull it all the way out and stop myself from choking. π³ Good stuff, eh? π
Took me a good hour to shake that one off after waking up, but it helped that it had the childhood reminders in it. π Not only being in the Millersport house where I grew up, but also those turkey slices. It’s funny how when you are little, you don’t have a great concept of certain things… and for me, those turkey slices would be one of those things. π Back then, it was like “Holy shit, we are having turkey and mashed potatoes and it isn’t even Thanksgiving?!?!” but now I’m like “Wow, Mom really worked some magic with a $2.99 box of processed turkey and brown goo.” π
But seriously, I don’t know whether it was wanting to save money, needing to save money, just liking that particular meal… but that was some basic-ass stuff, and I never thought a single bad thing about it. π (I can’t say the same about the “Salisbury Steak” dinners… oy… but I digress.) It all reminded me of something I saw on TikTok the other day, where it was just a short video of woman saying something like “You didn’t realize it at the time, but when you were a kid – you were actually watching your parents grow up.” π
It’s true… and while I’m sure every person’s thoughts and experience with this idea are unique, when I offhandedly think about it, as I’ve grown into the age that I am now – I think whatever my current age is as I’m thinking about it, that’s the age I mentally picture Mom and Dad being at through all of my school-aged years. ππ€·π»ββοΈ Always seeming like they were “grown ups” who had already “figured it all out” and yet here I am, approaching 50, and I feel like I’ve only figured out 1/4 of what I had already attributed to them when I was ten. π