I once had a pet turkey named O’Brett (if you ask me in the comments I will tell you how he got his name). He was sitting on the hood of a car in the little run down neighborhood. I stopped and asked the people milling around what was the deal with this turkey. There was no cage, no coop, just this giant bird calmly sitting on this car with a few sort of bewildered people who seemed oddly uncomfortable. When I inquired, they offered to give it to me. And since I was renting a single wide trailer on a little bit of land, I said, sure.

And that is how I got my pet turkey. I put him in the yard, and made a little spot for him in a shed out back so he could get out of the weather. He was massive, and sort of scary. But he was so calm and gentle. I could pick him up and carry him around, although I needed both arms to gather him up because he was huge! But he liked being held, and he followed me everywhere. He was fascinating to observe up close, with the strange low booming noises he could make deep in his throat, and the interesting shapes and colors of the skin around his face and neck.

I would squat down on the ground and spend a lot of time making direct eye contact with him, and he would stare at me lovingly. He and I certainly had a deep understanding and mutual interest in each other.

This all happened right around Thanksgiving, so I honestly think some people stole him from a farm to cook for Thanksgiving, and then just couldn’t do it once they spent a little time with him and realized how calm and intelligent this giant bird was. He also became extremely protective. He would attack in full force anyone who tried to come into the yard unannounced. But I would simply go outside and wrap his giant body in my arms, and although when I bent down he was nearly as tall as me, he would simply melt into my arms and allow me to carry him away to safety. He was an absolutely amazing, wonderful, fascinating creature, and I am so grateful that I got to have that experience with that magnificent animal.

Which is why it hurts me so much when I see on social media, people making posts about how special turkeys are, and other people responding with laughter, jokes and making fun by those who have not given one thought to the idea at those 46 million turkeys who suffered and were slaughtered in sheer terror. Every single one of those animals could have brought joy to you, or to someone else. They lived in horrible, isolating conditions, like a prison, before being fed so much they couldn't walk, and then only to be brutally herded onto trucks to just become a commodity on a line and thoughtlessly killed by the thousands in one single day. Just so we could have a ‘centerpiece’ for our meal, some sort of symbol of wealth and togetherness, yet, without one single thought given to the idea that that lump of flesh was once a living, breathing, feeling, soul with the capacity to love, protect, and suffer.

So this Thanksgiving, please at least give a deep and meaningful thank you to the animal that suffered to give you what you felt like you needed to have to make your Thanksgiving special. And maybe, just maybe, rethink making that purchase in the years to come.

Today I am grateful it’s Thanksgiving, and I have family to be with. I am grateful I have an education, and a desire to provide a better life for my family, human and animals included. I am grateful for my friend who’s name I can’t even remember now (it was 1992), who looked at me quizzically, and made me so uncomfortable, but who had the fortitude to point out that if I am such an avid animal lover, how could I still condone eating them, and after a few weeks of squirming every time she brought it up, I realized, reluctantly, that she was right, and I finally made the decision to stop eating meat. I am thankful to her and hope she is well wherever she is. I am grateful and lucky that everyone closest to me in my family feels the same way, so we don’t have any friction about food on holidays such as these. And I am grateful I have a platform like this, where I am free to be myself, and express my own opinion without having to worry about being persecuted. I am very lucky and grateful to live where I do, and have had the opportunities I have had, to allow me to live my life the way I want to.

Today, I hope you too are grateful for your freedoms, and take a moment to appreciate just how lucky you are to get to make choices about how you spend your time, what you eat, and with whom. My heart goes out to those who are unable to be with who they want to on this day of gathering, and I hope you will all send them little prayers today.

Today, I hope you will spend meaningful time looking deep into the eyes of someone you love, or just hold their hand and take a moment to be grateful that you are free to do just that.

​Rest in peace my friend O’Brett, I hope I will see you again one day. Have a wonderful day today you Animal Loving Angel!

​Check out my YouTube channel for a daily "Good Morning!" from the rescues and lots of free tips and training resources. https://www.youtube.com/@the1drq