Thanksgiving Day with a Shot Gun and Snake!

My favorite time of the year has always been Thanksgiving. I believe it is the perfect season to one, celebrate my birthday, and two spend the holiday with my family. As long as I can remember, my mother’s side of the family always spent Thanksgiving together at my great-grandmother Ruby’s house. Ruby for short we call her, lived in a tiny white cottage with a large red barn and shed in the back. The house had 2 small bedrooms and 1 bathroom, a kitchen, family room, and den. Imagine 25 people every Thanksgiving trying to squeeze in such a tiny place. Somehow we managed! It was always especially exciting for me to visit Ruby’s house in November, because all of my cousins from Utah would come up for the week to visit. We were all very close in age, my brother and I were the two youngest. It would get pretty rowdy with 14 grandchildren running around outside at Ruby’s before the big Thanksgiving meal.

 When I was 8 years old, one Thanksgiving Day at Ruby’s, my cousins and I decided to explore the barn just out back. We were always told to never play in the barn, because my great-grandfathers tools and tractors were out there and we could get hurt playing on them. This year we did not listen and snuck around back while the parents were inside the house cooking. My oldest cousin Travis led the way up to the second floor of the barn. I remember it being very dusty and I couldn’t breathe well, but I was not about to leave. No one had ever been to the second floor of the barn and it was exciting to finally see and look around without anyone knowing, especially the parents. After about 10 minutes of exploring, my cousin Travis screamed at the top of his lungs and told us to go back down and get out quickly. I only being 8, screamed at the top of my little lungs as well all the way back in the house. When I rushed through the door with my other cousins following behind me, my father asked what was wrong, but I really did not know what was wrong. All I knew was Travis screamed, so I screamed and ran inside! Shortly after, Travis came bolting through the door yelling, “SNAKE !” Apparently, on the second floor of the barn, was a large black and yellow snake two inches from our feet!  Ruby quickly asked where and Travis told her in the barn on the second landing. My mom became upset, because we were not supposed to be in the barn in the first place. Next thing I know, my 90 pound, 88 year old great-grandmother Ruby grabbed a shot gun and her bedroom slippers and ran outside. Yes, ran. A few seconds later, a loud bang was heard from inside the house.  Shortly after, Ruby walked in, cleaned the gun, put it back, and walked over to the oven to check on the bread. No one said a single word. We were all speechless of what Ruby just did. Who knew an 88 year old women had so much spunk in her or a shot gun! Needless to say, my cousins and I never, not once, went back into the barn, because if we did we were afraid Ruby come after us!