Teen’s birthday request a little unusual to most

By Eddie West Staff Writer

It’s not uncommon for a teenager to request a pet for their birthday.

Possibly a puppy. Maybe a cat.

But when Grant area resident Samantha Blankenship asked her son Matthew what he wanted for his last birthday she wasn’t prepared for his answer.

It was a bird. Not an exotic bird such as a macaw, rather a turkey.

“When my mother asked me what I wanted for my birthday I said a turkey. She thought I was joking, but I wasn’t. When she realized I was serious, she got on the Internet and began searching for one,” recalls Matthew.

Eventually, Blankenship’s  mother located what her son had requested for his birthday present in Franklin.

When the family met up with the bird’s owner, he offered to sell them a second turkey at a discount price.

So for his birthday in September of last year, Blankenship ended up with two domestic turkeys which are now family pets. 

One is named Ford and another is named Tom.

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