Meanwhile Back at Mama’s
Jacksonville Beach, Florida
Friday, April 27, 2018
Clear, 80°
“Because when you stop and look around, this life is pretty amazing.”
Visiting with my mama is always a great experience as she doles out her wisdom, whistling random sounds or tunes, and just being the Southern matriarch in our family. Mama is 89 years old and lives life to her own choosing, damn everyone else! She is a multiple cancer survivor and has had at least five strokes that we know of since there were more early on that she would not tell anyone about. My mother’s side of the family has been prone to Alzheimer’s with her mother and both of her sisters having that horrible disease. Mama keeps her mind active fighting away the possibility that she one day is affected by it.
The family went out to dinner Friday night to a new restaurant that opened last week called The Homestead which originally opened in 1947 in a log cabin. Over the years it had changed owners and locations but now is open once again to serve Jacksonville Beach customers. It offers good solid country down home cooking with fried chicken, country fired steak, chicken & dumplings to name a few menu items. The side dishes were typically southern, too - mashed potatoes with gravy, creamed peas, and others all served family style; dig in and get your helpings of great food.
With it being newly opened I was kind of expecting there to be a few issues in either food preparation and/or service but both were running fast and furiously. The place was already packed and we called ahead to see if there was a large table ready so mama did not have to wait in a line. There was one available, so we headed right over joining the early dinner crowd.
The only observational complaint we had was that the tables were too close together making it hard for the staff to move around and the diners sat back to back with the person at the next table. If they got rid of one table, it would give just a tad more room for everyone. For now, it works and they have people waiting out the doors for dinner and I am sure they want to serve as many people as possible.
While we were at the table waiting for the food to be brought out these two little old ladies were walking in to sit at the table next to the wall behind ours. One was using a walker and slowly made her way to the table and sat down. Mama pulled Vanessa (her granddaughter) to her side and said fairly loudly, “Vanessa, I’m never going to have one of those, you will just have to carry me wherever I need to go if I cannot walk anymore!” Vanessa said, “Sure grandma whatever you need me to do.”
Everyone’s meal was great and as we thought before we came, it did not disappoint. There was plenty of food to go around and even a few leftovers for mama the next day if she wants it. We were getting up to leave and the two ladies were just getting their food at the dining table and mama noticed a woman was using an oxygen tank helping her breathe and mama says; fairly loudly (even with her hearing aids in), “Don’t let me get like that dragging around a bottle, just put me out!” as she walked toward the entrance door. Both women looked up and timidly smiled as I walked by. I was going to say something but just kept walking.
By this time just after six o’clock there is a standing room only gathering of people in the front area and the check in desk was hidden with all of the people standing around waiting to be seated. As mama turned the corner and walked through the crowd of people there were two women standing waiting for a table and mama (thinking they were part of the staff) said to them, “Y’all have really done well with this place, the food is good!” The women looked confused as they stood in line waiting but one woman shot back, “I guess that is a good recommendation for this place.” Another man standing close by said, “I guess that is a great testimonial; we made the right choice to come here tonight.”
Mama just kept walking through the crowd with Vanessa and headed to the car as everyone within hearing distance was smiling as we exited the restaurant. Bless her heart mama keeps saying what’s on her mind and whistling on her way to the car. It was another great family meal with mama.
I know where I got my sweet tooth. Since I was a child, every night around 8:30 I have this almost uncontrollable urge to have something sweet. It really doesn’t matter what it is or how big, just something to appease my desire for a sweet. Tonight’s (Sunday) dinner conversation turned to mama’s funny habits for sweets in her house. She has a tendency to hide them all over the place, chocolates here in a jar behind some pictures, small candy tucked in behind the television, candy stuffed in drawers out of sight, candy bars tucked away by her recliner chair. She would ask what kind of sweet did you want then direct you to the specific place where she hid the item you wanted.
Mama being a great Southern lady seems to always be worried if you have enough food to eat, wanting to pile on more and more of it on your plate while you are at the dinner table. I think it goes back to my childhood where we did not have very much and now she wants everyone to fill up on things and usually there are plenty of leftovers for tomorrow’s meal or snack. We laughed as we sat around the dinner table going over past great meals and planning what we may eat at the next one, a good sign of Southern family traditions.
My brother Ron and his wife Lori Ann keep a pretty stocked refrigerator and pantry so when mama sends them every day to the store for something it drives them crazy. Mama doesn’t have a lot to do now that their kids are grown and either out of the house or getting ready for college so mama isn’t taking them to school or dance class any longer. Since she has also had several strokes, we finally talked her into no longer drive herself. However, she still cooks a couple times a week and wants to do everyone’s laundry to keep herself busy.
Lately, she has been on a trend of sending them to the store every single day for something. It does not matter if they have made a list to go in a couple of days or not she still wants them to go NOW! Typically it is for things like croissants (get two packages) or her bacon thing going on right now (get me two pounds of bacon) or her Swiss Rolls (Little Debbie cakes). My last visit here she sent me to the store to get these and I did not realize these were not some sort of bread item and had several store employees searching all over the store for them only to discover as I walked past the end cap to get my own sweet item, Nutty Bars, that right there in front of me at eye level was “Swiss Rolls”. I felt like an idiot not knowing what they were but told the two people helping me scour the store what and where they were so they would know next time someone was looking for that item.
It has been another great visit of love, laughter, and inspiration from the mother I have shared a birthday with all my life. I hate to leave in the morning. She has given me the strength to be my own person, to cherish my Southern values and heritage as well as remember that every day you should return home with honor.
Traveling Life’s Highways I guess has been a part of me from an early age thanks to mama’s urging to see and experience all that the world has to offer. I am a lucky man to have such a role model in my life.
Continuing South to see friends and wonderful places to find more interesting people to share with you.