A Tale of Our First Born

And I don't mean Lindsey.

Our dog Dax will turn 12 this summer. He became a member of our family on October 16, 1998. While he has perhaps fallen in favor with the arrival of each daughter, he is still an integral part of our lives, even moreso because our girls love him so much.

Since I rarely include him in our family shananigans, I thought I'd tell a story on him. He can't talk so he can't defend himself on this one.

In the year 2000 we were living in Mankato and had the opportunity to have my dad and stepmom and Wayne's parents to our home for Thanksgiving. We had not put on a Thanksgiving dinner for any kind of company yet during our 5 years of marriage, so I was a bit nervous about the meal not turning out.

As the time for the meal drew closer, Wayne and I got busier and busier as each dish came near to completion. My dad chuckled and said we looked like a three-ring circus, rushing around each other in the kitchen getting everything out. (Of course, I had refused any offers of help.) At the last minute I remembered the corn that needed microwaving. As I whipped the corn out of the freezer, a container of green beans fell to the floor and split open. Thankfully only a handful of green beans scattered across the floor, but Dax was furiously eating them up as I tried to clean up the rest. He got four or five eaten before I could shoo him away.

We got the whole meal on the table, and sat down for the dinner. We all looked across the table at each other and I took a deep breath, glad that everything had turned out and that we were all finally gathered to relax, enjoy eat other's company and relish the meal. My mother-in-law began the prayer, and then the sound began.

The sound of Dax, noisily throwing up green beans in the living room.

It lasted through the prayer and several minutes into the meal. I think he got a green bean stuck in his throat which is why he kept making such a lovely retching sound for many minutes after everything had cleared his stomach. Of course I had to excuse myself from the table to check on him and clean it up.

Thankfully I have wonderful in-laws and animal-loving parents, so everyone laughed at the dilemma. It definitely made our first time hosting Thanksgiving a memorable one.