Find Your Turkey!

By, Chaplain Howard Earle, Jr.

Over 20 years ago, on her “My Favorite Things” show, Oprah Winfrey featured a smoked turkey made by a family in Tyler, TX. My family is from East Texas, and I have relatives who actually live in the city of Tyler. Naturally my interest was piqued. So much so, that I decided to order a Greenberg Smoked Turkey, made famous by Oprah Winfrey. And I must say that Oprah’s endorsement was no gimmick. The Greenberg Turkey has been a part of my family ever since. No matter where I’ve celebrated Thanksgiving over the last 20+ years, a Greenberg Turkey has always been on the table. We’ve gifted families Greenberg Turkeys for their Thanksgiving meals and now the Greenberg Turkey is a part of their family tradition as well.

A couple of weeks ago I made a trip to Texas to spend the weekend with my youngest daughter, Natalie. We decided to take the two-hour drive to Tyler to visit some family. While in Tyler, I decided I wanted to see the place that has blessed my Thanksgiving palette for so many years. I literally had butterflies as we approached the expansive facility. I behaved like a tourist as I slowed down, looking through the windows and taking pictures. I even rolled the window down just so I could get a few whiffs of the rich, robust aroma of the smoke! Yeah, I got it bad.

While sitting in the car on that Friday afternoon I had a full circle moment. I remember the countless car rides with my parents to visit the most obscure and boring places. I’d be in the back seat totally disinterested in some old, wood-framed schoolhouse or a patch of dirt marking the spot where some structure from their past once stood. Now here I was decades later sitting in front of a forest green warehouse complex with a huge, red turkey painted on it smiling with pride as my teenaged daughter sat in the backseat unimpressed. Mixed in with my nostalgia was a strong sense of gratitude. What’s most fundamental to our Thanksgiving holiday? Turkey of course! On that day, I found my gratitude anchored in the smell of smoked turkey. A flood of memories washed over me as I allowed scenes from life to pass before me like photo slides in a projector. I saw myself and my cousins playing football, my Dad and I injecting and deep frying a turkey, my grandfather and my great uncle sitting in front of the fire place playing dominoes, and my grandmother in the kitchen putting finishing touches on the best meal of the year.

The Greenberg Smoked Turkey has provided so much more than bold flavor and a smell that stays with you. That turkey has provided context for some of my richest memories.  Life is different now, meaning Thanksgiving will not look like last year’s or those of a different time in your life. I’m sure Thanksgiving at Beacon Hill looks different from what you’re accustomed to, but I hope that you realize there’s still plenty to be thankful for. Perhaps you can take the time to consider your own “Greenberg Turkey.” Who or what has been a part of your Thanksgiving journey that will spurn gratitude if you allow it? Just as the Greenberg Turkey did for us, allow your turkey to spurn generosity. Take your gratitude an extra step and be as intentional as you can in sharing the love that you’ve banked all these years. Do as I did and open the window and smell the smoke. Let that turkey remind you of all the reasons why your life is blessed and while you’re at it find a new turkey in this new season and make more memories!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh and by the way, you can find my turkey at gobblegobble.com.