There's an SNL skit called "Back Home Ballers" that depicts a group of adult daughters going home for Thanksgiving and being treated like queens. Their parents bend over backwards to shower their girls with love, attention, and all the snack junk food they could possibly want (I was unfamiliar with this last one...if you know anything about my mother then this won't come as a shock).
This was not quite the experience my little sister's new boyfriend had when he came to our Thanksgiving this year.
Don't get me wrong, he passed with flying colors and we all adore him. And it's not that we set out to intentionally create any trials and tribulations for him...they just...happened...and he's too helpful to say no to anything asked of him. For instance, say, giving my elderly dog her arthritis shot per the request of my mom.
Of course, like the good man he is, he cleaned the kitchen spotless after each and every meal (I was instantly a fan of this new guest), carried the luggage for all family members wherever we went, and lifted our 85lb aforementioned elderly dog up and down the stairs several times a day.
When it comes to sports and athletics, the Duggan family can be quite competitive, and pickleball has become the newest bonding sweat session. We were thrilled to have a new target on the court, and despite Chris requesting a break on the sidelines, none was given. Only the strong shall survive. Weed out the weak. 90 minutes later, his heart was still beating!
Perhaps my personal favorite torture session though was when we picked The Wolf of Wall Street to watch with my mom...clearly we had forgotten many choice scenes that one would shudder at the thought of watching with their own parents, and this good sir sat through them stone-cold and sans-blushing while my mom, Maggie, and I giggled like little girls at the comedy of the whole situation. Watching an x-rated movie with your girlfriend's mom is not for the faint of heart.
It's nice to have extra hands around the house. My mom had warned Chris that she might be crowning him with the task of giving Jody (again, our aforementioned elderly lioness of a dog (and also we do have another dog Lucy but who knows where she ever is)) her arthritis shot. Yes, as in deliver a needle into the side of an animal he had never met, and simply just...hope for the best. In true Sarah Duggan fashion, this woman pranced into the playroom holding the needle up like a 1950s pinup model and squealed: "it's timeeee!" Dear reader, please see the below photo evidence:
You know I can't make this up.
Chris, you're a champ. You ran social intereference when things got heated with certain non-blood relatives, you assisted in creating a fun outing with a targeted "friend" for your girlfriend's sister and paid for our drinks, you carried our life-sized wooden nutcracker down from the attic and squeezed a size small Bama sweatshirt on it (obviously another Sarah Duggan request), and above all, you were a delight to have around. Charley Duggan stamp of approval. Congrats, my friend. I myself am still working on that one.
Best Thanksgiving ever. And might I say, the two lovebirds look pretty darn good together. Come back, Chris!
jj
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