Note: There is language that is excluded in the transcript but not excluded in the audio
I come from a family of deer hunters. All the boys deer hunted, my father deer hunted. And when I was about four years old, I remember him being very excited about getting a deer. “We’re gonna get a deer!” And we always went up to my grandma’s house in Alpena to hunt deer. And remember, I was four years old, so “getting a deer,” and he’s talking about how he’s going to get a beautiful deer and he’s gonna bring it home and he’s gonna tie it up in the cellar. So that’s all I know. He’s gonna tie up Bambi for me and I’m gonna get to pet her, in my head, is what I thought.
Well, he come home and he was dancing and he was excited and he got a deer and I went running down to my grandma’s cellar which was a old Michigan basement with a dirt floor. And what do I find, but a strung up deer with its tongue hanging out and its body dressed the way hunters dress a body and there was no guts and it was just hanging there. This was not Bambi and this was not a deer that I was gonna get to pet and I freaked the f*** out. It was awful.
I could never bring myself to eat meat — deer meat, venison. I cooked it for my children, I made it for my husband, but I could never bring myself to eat it. Well, when we were moving, I moved from Detroit to [town], which is about 120 miles. And I had — my cousins were helping us and my mom had — instead of helping pack, she decided she would make our dinner. And when we all got out to the house, would you come over to her place and eat. And she made sloppy joes and a whole plethora of food for out — the moving crew to come and eat. And I got one of them sloppy joes and I put a big old mound of meat on it and I took a big bite.
And my mom was watching me. And I couldn’t figure out why she was watching me. And I just about sh** when I took a bite and realized it was venison. And I politely asked my husband if he wanted the rest of my hamburger, because I would not eat it. And my mom said, “Well, I thought you changed your mind and wanted to eat it. But there’s a hot dog in the ‘frigerator for ya.” So I got my hot dog out, and I ate that because I can’t bring myself to eat it. I don’t like the flavor of venison. I just, I’ve never liked it. And I know exactly where it comes from.