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It is tradition in our family for all of us to get together on Thanksgiving in one of the elder’s homes – grandparents, parents, aunt, or uncle. We belong to a very large family so generally anyone with a larger home was chosen for the yearly rotation. It was always enjoyable and often amusing right down to infighting and practical jokes.

Back in the mid-80s, my Uncle Harry decided to host Turkey Day. It would be the first time for him as he never had quite large enough accommodations but recently had moved into a large rambling house on an even larger piece of property.

“The deal of a lifetime” he called it.

It was an older home built sometime in the 1800s but had been restored and kept in impeccable condition over the long years it stood.

I spent the earlier part of the day helping out in the kitchen with other family females while the men were outside doing their “man thing” out in the garage or inside watching the Macy’s Day parade. My mom was famous for her homemade pumpkin and pecan pies and I was assisting her shaping numerous pie crusts. While making some fillings she ran out of a few ingredients so, I made my way down to the pantry which was located down a long hall at the back of the house.

I grabbed what I needed and started back when I realized I had forgotten something. I had taken maybe ten steps from the pantry door. When I pivoted to turn around, I saw a man standing by the pantry. It wasn’t a family member or anyone else I recognized since some family members had invited extra guests that year. The man was a middle aged gentleman wearing a flannel shirt coveralls, and an old slouching hat that covered part of his face. He was just standing there froze like a statue about two feet away from me. For a second it flashed across my mind that Uncle Harry might be playing a joke OR a vagrant who had wandered in through the back of the house. I reacted quickly and said:

“Who are you? Uncle Harry is that you?”

The man looked me dead in the eyes and then to my surprise got a look on his face like he was totally shocked to see me as though I had appeared out of nowhere. What seemed like a solid figure to me then dissipated into what seemed like a million particles and disappeared. I was a bit shaken but managed to compose myself and went back into the kitchen where I excitedly repeated what had just happened to me. No one could relate to my experience amongst the females and two of my cousins piped in saying they had just been down in the pantry earlier and had seen nothing at all. I was questioned whether I had been drinking or “indulging” in other substances to which I indignantly replied “no.”

My mom made me sit down and have some brandy as according to her I looked as white as a sheet. A few minutes later Uncle Harry walked in. He took one look at me and the rest of the women who looked uneasy and had stopped chattering and gossiping and asked me what was wrong. In the most composed manner I told him about my experience. He turned and walked to the refrigerator to start stocking beer for later on when the football games were broadcast.

Reluctantly he said:

“Oh that. That’s Old Samuel.  He came with the house … like I said deal of a lifetime.”