Debbie Does Drivel

It Goes Back, Way Back

Have I ever spoke of the Thanksgiving of '75? For that's when it was that I remember it starting.
I am talking about, of course, the moment I went nuts. And I mean this kinda literally.

I developed an inability to swallow foodstuffs. In fact, I don't think I could consume liquids at this time either, but that might be fabricated.
At any rate, I had an unnatural fear of choking, which arose, as these Debbie things do, quite out of the blue.

My dad couldn't handle it. Normally, he would just shove some food down my throat, but then I might, for real, choke, so he refrained and just yelled a lot.
It lasted for days. At that time (and never again, my friends) I was on the skinny side, so a few 24-hour periods of refusing food thinned me out in a scary way.

It was right before Thanksgiving and we were on our way to Minneapolis to visit my Aunt Marion and Uncle Jim and their kids. Minnesota was a good 8 hours from Chicago, and the whole way I rebuffed the road food I used to look so forward to.

When we arrived at my aunt's house, my dad was just beside himself. I'd gone nearly four days without eating, and no one -- including myself -- knew why I'd grown to believe I'd choke and die a gasping death if I ate food.

Finally, my father couldn't take it anymore. It was Thanksgiving, for God's sake! So, he broke his "no shoving food down the kid's throat" rule and stuck a shelled peanut in my mouth. No matter that as a grown-up, he may have surmised that a peanut may not be the best "starter" food to stick into your crazy child's mouth, when she feels she will choke on water.

So, I stood there in shock and just let the peanut dissolve in my mouth. Some of it may have dribbled down the sides of my mouth, thus cementing my "she's gone loony" status in the family, but that may be fabricated.

Anyhow, the peanut juice eventually made its way down my throat with the added bonus of not choking me. I was cured!

The Thanksgiving of '75 was saved! My dad was a hero!

So yeah, that must've been when it all started***.

Crazy waters run deep.

*July 9, 2001 post.