11/27/2025
❤ "Just Enough' ❤
Margaret Houlihan hadn’t bought herself a new dress in years. A homemaker with health issues that kept her from working, she raised the kids while her husband worked at the nearby factory and brought home just enough for them to get by.
Like so many middle‐class families, all it took was one unexpected expense to put them behind the eight ball and find themselves, as the saying goes, ‘Stealing from Peter to pay Paul.’
Margaret never complained. She was always grateful.
Most days, thankfully, they had 'just enough'
As Thanksgiving approached, Margaret found herself in good spirits because they were caught up on bills, and she was hopeful they’d have the money to finally do the holiday right.
In Margaret’s mind, that meant (for the first time ever!) buying a fresh turkey to prepare for the family, instead of the frozen variety.
Now, there was nothing wrong with a frozen bird, but every year, Margaret would find herself staring longingly through the glass case at the local supermarket, at the ‘fresh turkeys,’ wishing she could afford one.
With the 'day of thanks' fast approaching, Margaret took her shopping list and money over to the store and went to the meat counter to inquire about the birds.
Sal, ‘the butcher,’ greeted her with a smile, as she peered through the glass like a child picking out a puppy. The pricing wasn’t easily visible, so Sal had to turn over the tags and then watch the smile run from Margaret’s face.
‘Something wrong, dear?’ he asked.
She could only look down and say, ‘I knew they were more expensive, but I didn’t realize they’d be three times as much as the frozen ones.’
Sal was moved by her disappointment and found himself looking at her weathered shoes and faded coat with the second button missing.
As she turned to go, Sal told her to wait.
‘I’ll tell you what,’ he said. ‘These fresh birds ARE expensive, but the day before Thanksgiving, if we have any left, we mark them way down... like, half‐off.’
Margaret’s eyes lit up as she did the math in her head of what that would cost.
‘Then I’ll see you the day before Thanksgiving!’ she said with a smile.
As Turkey Day crept closer, Sal noticed his fresh birds selling much faster than usual. At this pace, he’d surely run out before the big day.
Growing up poor himself, he felt a connection to that woman he’d sometimes see in the store with her two young children, and wished he could help out.
It was in that moment, Sal hatched a secret plan.
On the day before Thanksgiving, Margaret Houlihan arrived at the store with her shopping list and went directly to the meat counter. Sal excitingly motioned for her to wait a moment and then emerged from the back cooler with a perfect fresh bird.
As promised, it was marked way down to a price Margaret could afford.
After thanking the butcher, she pushed her cart away, and Sal was overwhelmed with a sense of warmth. That soon changed, when the store manager appeared at his counter, arms folded, looking upset.
The manager said to Sal, ‘The other day I was doing inventory in the cooler and hidden under a box in the corner was a fresh prize turkey.'
Sal looked down, he knew he was caught.
"I know what you’re doing, and I have to tell you, hiding that until today so you can buy it for yourself and save money is theft. Now go get the bird and put it in the case.’
"I can't," Sal answered.
His boss waited for an explanation.
Sal looked down sheepishly and said, ‘You’re right. I did set it aside, but not for me.’
He then walked his manager to the front of the store, where they saw Margaret checking out at the register. The manager saw the prize turkey was with a woman in a tattered coat, carefully laying out her coupons; anxiously watching as the numbers on the register climb higher and higher.
She carefully counted out her money, paused, and let out a heavy sigh.
She was short four dollars.
The manager's heart ached for this stranger.
He saw her looking at the items she needed to buy, trying to decide what had to go back on the shelf.
‘This is who you helped?’ he asked Sal.
Sal nodded, yes.
The manager paused and ran his calloused hands through his hair, before approaching Margaret.
Sal swallowed hard, not certain what his boss would do.
The manager said to the woman running the cash register, ‘Susan, do you NOT know about the special sale we're having today? Everyone who buys a fresh turkey gets a free pumpkin pie. Take that pie off her bill, please.’
When the clerk punched the buttons, and the pie came off, Margaret had just enough.
The manager and Sal helped Margaret carry her bags out to her old car, and as the creaky door slammed shut and they turned to go, the driver’s side window opened just enough for a gentle voice to say, ‘God bless you both.’
As the two men walked back toward the store, the manager said to Sal, ‘Do you have any more turkeys hiding for people like her?’
Sal smiled and said, ‘No, sir.’
His manager put his hand on Sal’s shoulder and replied, ‘Why not?'”
(originally published, Thanksgiving 2019, Capital Region Living Magazine)
