Holiday Spirit at the Green Market

This past weekend was shopping weekend in preparation for our Thanksgiving feast. I had ordered a 16-18 lb turkey & a 10 lb breast from Dipaola Turkeys in Hamilton, NJ--local, free range, and fresh--and we added on a spiral of spicy turkey sausage as well. My heart stopped beating when we were told how much it all cost, but after a few deep breaths, and repeating the mantra: "local is good, the turkey will be delicious, I'm paying for sustainability," I was okay. After we'd loaded up on all of the veggies and herbs we needed for the meal, I had about $10 left. There's two women who sell flowers each week, and near Thanksgiving and Christmas, they start selling aromatic centerpieces, door wreaths, and swags. Last Christmas, we bought a centerpiece for D's mom and she loved it. (And we loved how it made the car smell for about a week afterward!) I asked the woman behind the table whether she had any decorative wreaths for $10 or less, and she said "no," and sadly shook her head. I asked D for the last $5 he had in his pocket and happily walked up to the woman with the $15 and a door swag. D was standing a few yards away looking stricken by the amount of money we'd just plunked down and I looked over at him; the woman turned to look at him, too, and when she turned back to me I said: "We just spent our entire life savings on fresh turkey for our family for the holidays." She handed me back a $5 bill and said "Happy Holidays." I couldn't really meet her eye, because I started crying, which made D laugh and hug me close to him. What a wonderful way to start the season!