Story by Jon Stalnaker AKA The Studebaker Dude
I want to thank those who read my stories and say that I appreciate these opportunities to cleanse my mind of the things I do, have done, and/or generally just think about. These snippets of my thoughts serve as my personal journal. Stories that I am willing to share with people I know, love, and/or people who are curious about what this strange old man has to say.
I promised myself, and my readers, that I wouldn’t be negative or talk about politics. I take that seriously and sometimes struggle to live up to it. Lucky for me, and people that don’t really want to waste their time reading “crap”, I always have my wife, Carlene, proofread my stories, and she will be honest with me when I cross that line. Sometimes, as hard as I may try to spin a rant, I cross that line. This week I did that, and now I have to write a second story, one that is suitable for publishing, especially at a time when people go out of their way to spend time with loved ones.
This week, we have been blessed with a visit from my son Jon and his awesome wife, Alyssa, who flew all the way from California to Oklahoma to spend some quality time with the old man (that’s me) and MY awesome wife. We like these visits because they also let us do some fun things around here that we don’t get to when we get so busy watching TV or scrolling through our phones. Retirement is often like that.
So far, we have spent some quality time sharing the local cuisine. We are no strangers to that, as eating out is another of our retirement skills. When discussing where to eat, I was asked if I liked Cracker Barrel. I gave an honest response that we had eaten there, but it wasn’t one of my favorites. Jon looked a bit disappointed with my response, as he confessed he had never been to Cracker Barrel and had always wanted to try it.
That little tidbit of information changed the whole thing. We have a Cracker Barrel nearby, and we HAVE to go. There aren’t many of these iconic restaurants where we grew up in California, and so, he needed the experience. Lucky for him, our local franchise was not affected by the company’s recent makeover fiasco, so it was fun watching him take in the Cracker Barrel experience. So many great places to dine, and we are still taking advantage of local eateries.
Another blessing that they get is to spend some time with his sister. Jillian enticed us to move away from California, and they get to see the Oklahoma experience from two different perspectives. Jillian made a quick trip to Scotland and ran into major aviation delays getting back, but she made it. We got to take them to see Jillian’s new business in Bristow and to experience the smoked baloney fries at CJ’s. More great family time awaits us as we all get to share the big feast on Thursday.
And I’ll leave it here for now. I hope everyone gets to have as great a Thanksgiving as we are having this year. There is not much better than the Thanksgiving get-together for families. I hope all y’all are also enjoying this special time. God is good…
