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. ๐๐คฆ๐ปโโ๏ธ 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. ๐ค Well I managed to forget that important last step in my dream this morning. ๐ณ
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. ๐คท๐ปโโ๏ธ 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. ๐คข 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. ๐ง 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. ๐ณ Good stuff, eh? ๐
Took me a good hour to shake that one off after waking up, but it helped that it had the childhood reminders in it. ๐ 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. ๐ 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.” ๐
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. ๐ (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.” ๐
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. ๐๐คท๐ปโโ๏ธ 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. ๐