The Wish Bone

... you have to pull with your pinky ...

When I was young the world was full of opportunities to make wishes: a wishing pond, a falling star, the candles on a birthday cake, and a loose tooth.

At Christmas, the wish bone from the turkey gave a 50% chance that you could get your wish – fifty to you, fifty to the person holding the other edge of the bone

Technique is everything.

Is it better to hold your side of the bone high? 

Hold it low?

... this might be going wrong ...

Should I pull and twist to make the crack go to the other side of the bone?

Are there enough dried wish bones to give a person real practice.

... wait until I get a firm grip ...

I remember one year mother saved the wish bones from every turkey, starting with the turkey for New Years and going through Easter.

Then Thanksgiving brought some turkey meals, as well as a couple of turkeys at Christmas.

 And she was known to have a turkey dinner – just for no reason, other than to invite people in for Sunday dinner.

 The wish bones she saved were to be spray painted gold at Relief Society, decorated with a bow and hung on the Christmas tree.

 That project was done in in the days when money was tight and decorations from the tree were hand made.

 No disposable income at all, let alone money for decorations.

... It worked.  It worked.  The wish will come true...

Remember the time she made decorations from egg cartons, taking the 2 of the cardboard depressions, gluing them together, painting them and then using a sprinkle of sparkle for the finishing touch?

 Or how about a church made from a box and the roof was corrugated cardboard.

 That one was a beauty … at least to me. The golden wish bones hung from the tree for many years.

But the year they were made is the year no wishes came to our house from turkey bones. 

We had to count on falling stars.

Arta