Escapees Is this what passes for entertainment? Great Aunt Helen arrives drunk.

Uncle Bob drops his toupee in the punch bowl. Mothers flushed face looks up from my gravy giblets, tears coursing her face, afraid she will miss the six oclock dinner deadline. No one helps but me. Resting on the stove, I witness 3 generations of brats.hers, his and theirs, storming the back door. A summers worth of leaves blasts in behind them on the steady icy wind. Mamma shrieks at them. I am cooling past the point of no return Everything else is not ready: caldrons of mashed potatoes boiling peas broilers of squash kettles of corn

The men drink beers and watch football while rolls steam, Gravy bubbles, Rum cake ferments . Mother and I slip out the gate and head for Value Village, Halloween headquarters, She is looking for a gravy boat and I am looking for a chicken suit.