By Laura Beth Moore
Whew! Part of me can’t believe Thanksgiving break is already over so quick! My sister Mary Catherine and I enjoyed the beautiful Texas sunset as we headed to meet my parents at my Uncle Greg’s ranch in Edgewood, Texas. This year, there was a new addition at Uncle Greg’s, our new 7-week-old baby cousin Abigail Catherine! There may have been arguing over who got to hold her next.
When it comes to the Thanksgiving meal, my Papa Homer and Uncle Greg take the cooking seriously. My 76-year-old Papa stayed up all night smoking the turkey to perfection. Our Thanksgiving traditions start off with sleeping in and catching the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade on television. Then, we eat. As we finish the meal, we all go around the table saying what we are thankful for. We all got choked up listening to my Uncle Greg talk about how thankful he is for the blessings of his new wife Natalie and their little girl Abigail Catherine. Both Natalie and my uncle had never married and were in their late 30s and early 40s when eHarmony matched them up almost 3 years ago. We joke with them saying, “Good things come to those who wait.” The special time wrapped up with my precious Papa Homer leaving us all teary-eyed at the end of his talk. “Take time every day to encourage someone,” he said.
Little did I realize, the weekend was just getting started as Mary Catherine and I traveled to Ft. Worth. Her boyfriend’s family treated us to dinner at Texas de Brazil before we headed to Billy Bob’s. This was our first experience at Texas de Brazil, and if you haven’t been before, they come by continuously with racks of meat for you to pick and choose from. My sister and I were in shock and a tad overwhelmed by all the food constantly coming our way. You have to understand we grew up without brothers…so we were introduced to a whole other world. Those boys can put away so much food! It was Thanksgiving Part Two. After dinner Mary Catherine, her boyfriend and I headed to the famous Billy Bob’s, located in the Fort Worth Stockyards. I had heard Baylor friends from the Dallas and Ft. Worth area talk about Billy Bob’s before. I always wanted to go, and as a fan of country music and two-steppin’, I quickly fell in love. We’re talking about taking a big group of friends up there sometime soon over dead days to go two-steppin’. Besides the dancing, I loved belting out some of my sister and I’s favorite Florida Georgia Line songs like “Get your Shine On” and “Cruise.”
The next morning was Game Day! We headed to tailgate with my sister’s boyfriend’s family, who are regulars at the TCU games. Our parents joined us to enjoy Chick-fil-A nuggets, Panda Express and several other tailgate take-out treats. Thankfully, one of our parent’s family friends grew up a TCU fan but now goes to Baylor, so we weren’t alone in our green and gold. As we walked to the stadium, we were shocked by all the green and gold sprinkled among the purple crowd. If you didn’t see the game, it was quite the nail-bitter! Mary Catherine and I cheered like crazy as Terrell Burt intercepted TCU’s hopes of tying the ballgame, but her boyfriend’s family turned to us stunned. While it was too close for comfort personally, it was good to see the Bears take home another win for the season!