Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the kitchen...

You never know when it’s going to strike, do you? But despite your best efforts, it’s unavoidable. And it always seems to happen when you least expect it.

I’m referring, of course, to a Thanksgiving disaster.

Just about everyone has a Thanksgiving horror story. That year when nothing seemed to go right – or one thing went terribly wrong. For example, I asked a bunch of people I know to tell me about their worst Thanksgiving. Here are some of the responses I got:

• The time the dog ate the turkey right off the kitchen counter when nobody was looking.
• The time everyone in the family got sick with the flu the day before Thanksgiving.
• The time Aunt Gloria broke her nose during the annual family backyard football game.
• The time there was a miscommunication and practically every family member brought a pie instead of gravy, or stuffing, or rolls, or…
• The time that inappropriate – and maybe slightly inebriated – uncle showed up, even when he wasn’t invited.
• The time everyone decided to go to a nice restaurant for Thanksgiving, drove for an hour, and found it was closed.
• The time someone brought up politics around the dinner table and a huge argument ensued.
• The time the youngest child was allowed to say grace…and everyone remembered that children and reverence don’t always go together.

People always plan Thanksgiving to be the perfect family gathering. Everyone will arrive on time. The table will groan under the weight of all those delicious traditional dishes. The kids will be perfectly well-behaved. Everyone will say what they’re grateful for, and a warm, wholesome feeling will pervade the house.

Most of us dread the thought of anything happening that could upset that perfect picture. But something interesting happened when I asked people to describe their Thanksgiving horror stories:

They all started to laugh.

• Because when the dog ate the turkey, everyone ate pizza instead…and secretly enjoyed it more.
• Because when everyone got sick, they all curled up under blankets and spent a cozy day watching Disney films together.
• Because when Aunt Gloria arrives every Thanksgiving, people remind her to catch the ball with her hands, not with her face! Good sport that she is, she always answers, “No promises!”
• Because you can never have too much pie.
• Because that inappropriate, slightly inebriated uncle said some hilarious, side-splitting things…that are now the family’s most treasured inside jokes.
• Because everyone bonded during that hour-long car ride to the restaurant like they never would have otherwise.
• Because after the political argument died down, people apologized, started listening to each other, and ended the night with mutual respect for each other’s views.
• Because the child’s irreverent prayer was so silly, so innocent, it still makes the familysmile years later.

You see, no one can recall a Thanksgiving that went off without a hitch. It’s the disastrous ones we remember. Those are the ones that make you smile for years afterwards.

Those are the ones that keep your family united in love and laughter. Those are the ones that stick with you.

Because it’s those Thanksgivings that make us truly realize what we have to be thankful for.

So, on behalf of everyone at ClearVista Financial, we wish you a hilariously disastrous Thanksgiving! May your horror stories be as delicious to tell as your turkey was to eat. Because, in the end, those are the ones you’ll treasure most. And that’s what Thanksgiving is really all about, isn’t it?

(Just make sure you have a backup for the bird, like spaghetti or something.)

Happy Thanksgiving!