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Nothing less than Essie
Monday, June 13, 2022 at 06:44PM 
Essie: A certified, bona fide treasure.
As we are prone to do almost every time one of the children (and even sometimes, one of the adults) has a birthday, we converged on Fort Mill, South Carolina, practically smack dab on the North/South Carolina state line, last Friday night for a party at the Cracker Barrel.
We've been doing this for years, always on Fridays. The tar heel bunch have to travel about ninety minutes, the same as all of us from Columbia. It's an ideal solution logistically and in just about every other way, to the problem of how to get together more often without anybody having to pack a suitcase.
Baby Rhett: So these are crayons.
As we drove north on I-77 towards Charlotte, I was thinking how much I hoped Essie would be working what seems to be her customary Friday night shift. I'd been derelict in taking a picture of her when we were last there, in mid April, for Allissa's birthday celebration, and even in February, for little Andrew's.
So when I approached the check-in station, after being told by the two sweet young women working there that I am a dead ringer for Fran Drescher (it's The Nanny! they exclaimed), and playing along, doing my best impression of Frannie whining Mistah SHEFField, hahahaha!, I told them that our number was twelve.
Andrew and Brittany sent this oversized squishy animal.
Then I said: Is Essie here?
Yes! they assured me, and my heart was so glad. I peered into the restaurant area for my friend, but not seeing her as yet, I texted Cherica and Audag (who were together, about ten minutes behind us) that Essie was there and we'd made sure she'd be serving our table.
Audrey -- a/k/a fun mom -- brought candy. We ate nearly all of it.
They texted back almost immediately, saying that Dagny was especially overjoyed with the news.
(Essie always wants to know who the birthday person is, and learns their name, and gives them special attention throughout the evening.)
It was all because of our darling Dagny's birthday.
I turned around then, and looked again into the restaurant, and there was Essie. She'd seen me and was holding out her arms for a hug. We said our hellos and she bustled off to make sure our tables got put together and made ready.
I declare, that lady is the soul of southern hospitality, as well as of sincere personal warmth.
For a place like that, at a time like this, she is like finding a rose blooming in the desert.
Mama keeps telling me to start coloring.
In due time we had all assembled with our balloons and birthday presents and cupcakes and so forth, and were seated at a long line of pushed-together tables.
(A few minutes before, the manager had come out to the waiting area especially to tell us that we'd be seated momentarily, as soon as Essie swept beneath our tables to make sure everything was spiffy for us.)
Dagny and me: We've been an item for eight whole years.
Essie seemed so thrilled to see our family. She calls me The Queen (I didn't tell her I'm actually The Nanny, haha) and seems to look out for me. Like, before the biscuits were served? She brought me not one but three of those little single-serving containers of apple butter.
I had not even mentioned that I love apple butter. (And I shared with Erica.)
The lovely Allissa.
You know how it is. The drink orders are noted and delivered, and the food orders are taken, and then you chat awhile and the food is brought to the table by at least two servers.
Once everyone had their plate in front of them, Essie began fielding the many remaining requests.
We needed ketchup, extra tartar sauce, honey mustard for dipping, drink refills, more corn muffins and biscuits, et cetera.
I don't know what she was opening but whatever it was, she loved it.
Essie never batted an eye. Just kept smiling and tending to us as though she truly enjoyed it.
I asked her later whether she has other customers who love her and ask for her by name.
She didn't brag at all, but nodded and smiled. It was clear that it pleases her to take care of folks, and they respond with genuine affection for her.
These crayons are fine as far as they go but when do we eat?
Dagny was pretty excited about her birthday, which actually is not until tomorrow. More on that later.
Baby Rhett, encouraged by his mother, took an avid interest in the crayons and activity sheet provided. Next month we will celebrate his first birthday.
The men sat at one end of the table, talking sports. Audrey and Stephanie got caught up in sister conversation on the other end.
If there's not a mylar balloon, you haven't had a birthday.
I like to sit more or less in the middle, always facing the room, with grandchildren on either side. This time it was little Andrew on my left and Dagny to my right.
Audrey had brought two adorable plastic candy dishes and put one at each end of the table, and poured out a bunch of colorful candy, including Big Chewy Nerds and Dollar General Sweet Smiles Sour Neon Gummy Bears.
Little Andrew and I both had the hamburger steak.
Those were a big hit. We all just kept reaching into those dishes. Yes! Candy before dinner! Have you never heard of that? The perfect appetizer.
Speaking of Dagny, she got so antsy for her presents after the meal that finally we said okay okay oKAY it's time to open your gifts!
Me and my buddy Essie.
Andrew and Brittany had sent a giant soft squishy toy that Dagny loved. She had specifically requested art supplies, so for Friday night's gift TG and I got her a fat sketch book and some Twistables colored pencils.
More to come on that score later.
Art supplies are totally the thing this year.
She got lots of nice things, including a twenty dollar bill from a customer of Audrey's. The cash really lit her up. She told me she has a ten dollar bill to go with it, and that that makes thirty!
Indeed it does. Sounds as though her schooling is going well.
(I'm pretty sure that when I was eight, I had never seen thirty dollars with my own eyes. That amount would have kept our entire family afloat for about a week.)
The twenty may have been the highlight of the evening.
Eventually Audrey brought out the store-bought cupcakes and served them on party plates -- Dagny's theme for her birthday this year is The Galaxy, so everything was coordinated.
Even some of the candy -- Nerds Gummy Clusters -- resembled something one might see hurtling through space, assuming one could see such a thing. At any rate they were out-of-this-world delicious.
Sisters: our beautiful daughters.
(If you try those, be careful. They are more addictive than crack and Captain Jack Sparrow put together.)
Eventually it was time to pack up our stuff and go. Reluctantly we said our goodbyes to Essie -- with whom Dagny and I posed for a picture first, in front of the fireplace -- and headed outside.
Nothing could be finer: Menfolk of the Carolinas.
The kids were being so cute while the adults talked on the wide walkway that runs the width of the restaurant, underneath the overhang, that I said it was time to take even more pictures.
Naturally I called the shots. All the kids! Okay all the girls (TG took that one)! Now all the guys!
When the evening had dwindled to its close and we were saying our goodbyes out by the cars, Joel had a presentation to make.
Essie with me and my birthday-girl granddaughter.
He told how he'd searched high and low, more or less, for a certain something that he wanted to give to TG for Father's Day.
And that's when he produced two mint-condition, extremely collectable baseball cards: Hall-of-Famers Al Kaline and Ryne Sandberg.
The Sandberg card is autographed. Ryno! He is TG's favorite player of all time.
Four cousins and a cracker barrel.
As he took the cards, I think TG was fighting back tears. Not over the cards themselves necessarily, but at the kindness and thoughtfulness of the gesture. Well done you, Stephanoel.
Somebody has to walk away first, and somebody did, and soon enough we were all on the road again, heading for our comfortable houses and most of all, our cozy beds.
The blessings poured out on our heads are almost embarrassing sometimes, in both quality and quantity.
In the lineup: Just us girls.
Tomorrow we will celebrate our Dagny on her actual eighth birthday. Since temperatures are in the triple digits all week, Audrey and I plan to take her to the mall during the day.
There's a carousel to ride, and we can hang out at the food court. Audrey wants to visit Bath and Body Works because they're having a sale. I promised Dagny I'd teach her to people-watch, a skill at which I excel.
Above all, it's nice and cool. I detest malls as a rule, but sometimes you must go against your feelings and proceed with a healthy dose of enlightened self-interest.
Carded: TG received some special memorabilia.
Dagny is apprehensive -- this breaks my heart to say -- about our plan because several weeks ago there was a shooting incident at Columbiana Mall on a Saturday evening. But we told her that it will be fine.
I hope we're right.
It will be much too stifling to do anything outdoors until late evening, and that's when we'll order pizza for dinner and go swimming.
Cherica will be there with Baby Rhett, and I'll be covered with Cutter Dry since mosquitoes love me the way libs love lying.
The Birthday Girl
We'll make a fuss over Dagny and sing to her, and there will be a homemade birthday cake that her mother has been planning for weeks, and more gifts since we saved the big ones for the actual day.
Wherever you are, stay cool and do what makes you happy.
I'll report back later with how everything goes.
And that is all for now.
=0=0=0=
Happy Monday
Reader Comments (16)
Happy birthday to Dagny! What a fun day you have planned for her tomorrow, Jenny! People watching is one of my favorite hobbies and past times :)
So sweet how Essie has become part of your birthday celebrations! I bet she looks forward to them as you all come in!
Rhett seems like he has such a personality! He is just the most handsomest of little men!
Can't wait to hear about the rest of the celebrating for Dagny's special day!
betty
What a wonderful celebration, so full of love! Your daughters are beautiful, and look so much like you. I hope Dagny can have a fun day and forget about that awfulshooting, at least for awhile.
Happy Birthday Dagny! A good time was had by all! How nice to have a meet up spot like that AND a wonderful server who is now part of the tradition. I enjoy the mall, though I do prefer the outdoor ones these days. But on a hot summer day, it’s perfect. I hope the Bath & Body Works sale is still going on.
Happy Birthday to Dagny!! I always look forward to reading about your family celebrations and seeing all of your beautiful smiling faces. It's so nice to finally put a face to Essie. She sounds like a true sweet soul.
It's sad that Dagny was hesitant about the mall because of the shooting but I can completely understand. Everything that is going on in the world is difficult for me to process let alone for children. It's very sad to me.
It is HOT here as well with the heat index reaching 110 for the next week. YIKES! Stay cool and enjoy your week. I'm looking forward to reading about the 'real' birthday celebration
@Betty ... Isn't people watching just the best? I have to bite my tongue and not be too snarky, though, haahahaa! Sometimes I wonder if folks own mirrors, or if they do, they never consult them, haaha! Yes we treasure every encounter with our Essie, and now I'm beginning to wish that she could sit down and eat with us instead of waiting at the table! Because we enjoy chatting and she's fun to talk to. And Rhett ... what can I say? We are continually just in his thrall. Those eyes and that sweet, funny personality! He is pretty much our obsession these days. What a blessing and a joy he has been to everyone. Stay cool and have a great week! Love to Winslow! xoxo
@Ginny ... Oh I hope she can forget about the shooting too. I think it was some folks having a fight but still, innocent bystanders were hurt. People are crazy. But we can't let it keep us from living our lives! We'll celebrate all day long! xoxo
@Bijoux ... Yep for a hot muggy summer day (although now we're having a pop-up thunderstorm and it's nice because it's been ages since we've had any rain), the mall is okay. We'll have fun at the food court at least, and I hope at BBW! Also I need some makeup from Dillards. What a blast, hahaha! xoxo
@Lori ... Ugh the HEAT! Unreal. But it will even out eventually into "normal" summer weather, I hope! We're just basically sweltering. The A/C never goes off but it's cool in the house and except for days like today when there is a special reason to go out, on the hottest days I stay indoors after my morning walk. I think Dagny will be fine at the mall but I hate it that she even has to think for five seconds about fear of being shot. It's just so awful. God help us. xoxo
I was enjoying your post so much with all the family and love....until you had to get mean and snarky. By 'libs' I assume you mean people who tend to vote liberal. Liberals do not lie any more than any other group. In fact no Liberal president has ever told 30,000 documented lies during his 4 years. . . unlike your Trump and his Big Lie. Shame on you for the insult and for making Instagram a place of hate.
Aww look how excited Dagney looks! I miss the days when birthdays were exciting! I'm glad you posted a photo of Essie. Looks like the feelings are mutual between you two! What a great gift your son gave TG! Being from Detroit and remembering when the Tigers won the World Series in 1968 Al Kaline was one of our favorites As usual I love the pictures of your beautiful family! baby Rhett is adorable and growing so fast! Stay cool my friend! XO
Happy Birthday sweet Dagny! I really can hardly believe it. She was just a baby and now she's looking like a lovely young lady. As they all are - growing so fast! Baby Rhett is as adorable as always but soon I can't say baby Rhett,
Essie is a treasure! She has the best smile. She's an example of the way we can impact people by kindness and showing love to those around us.
The baseball cards were perfect. I know it gave Stephanoel as much joy to give them as it did for TG to receive. That was a gift full of love.
@Eileen ... Thanks for reading and yes, there is a lot of love in our family. We love the truth. By libs I mean liberals; it has less to do with how they vote than with who they are. And yes; liberals love lies so much that they lie even when the truth would serve them better. It's unfortunate but it is also a well-known fact. I am not sure how Instagram comes into it; I have not spread hate there or anywhere else. Maybe you are confused. This is my personal blog, on which you are welcome to comment as long as you stay on topic (the topic of this post was NOT liberals; they were simply the subject of a simile) and don't cuss. But spewing pure hatred for a former president, and repeating lib lies about him, is not productive -- especially not on a post about a child's birthday. xoxo
@Jeanette ... Yes our Essie is a true friend and the feelings are mutual. I wish you could meet her. TG and I went to a Tigers game in the '90s and I wasn't really a baseball fan then but I still loved it. Our first date -- August 24, 1978 -- was at old Comiskey Park, White Sox versus the Kansas City Royals (Sox won 4-0). I may have told you that before and if I did, sorry! But yes Al Kaline was one of the greats. And our Dagny sure did enjoy her birthday -- we celebrated all day today! xoxo
@Mari ... I am going to say Baby Rhett for a little while longer and then I guess I'll have to stop too, but I don't want to! Can you believe he will be one in just a month? Essie does have the sweetest, most humble smile but she is full of spirit! Such a lovely lady. I wish everyone could meet her in person. And you're right -- she is a great example of humility and love and how much of an impact it can have. Yes I was so proud of Stephanoel for coming up with that meaningful gift! xoxo
Hello Friend,
First a little housekeeping...
I am so happy I introduced you to Mike Rowe. Enjoy the podcasts. We love him, he is a patriot fighting for America. :-)
Second.. well done in your comment to Eileen. You handled that very well.
And now for a big Happy Birthday to your sweet Dagny. I always love your family gatherings.
Happy Father's Day to your special men too.
Carla
@Carla ... YES thank you so much for the information about the "They Want You To Find Them" podcast. It's a fascinating and satisfying subject! Discovering Mike Rowe is like finding hidden treasure! I'll be listening to a lot more of him. Dagny did have a wonderful birthday and I think she will always remember it. At least I hope so. As for answering one such as Eileen, I try to remember that those suffering with end-stage Trump Derangement Syndrome are often not in their right minds (being consumed with hatred will have that effect), and act accordingly. Happy Father's Day to your men as well! And happy everything to you, my friend. xoxo
-sigh- I am again having a terrible time, reading/commenting here. So I read on my tablet. Then have to try to remember, to comment here later. -sigh-
And that is my "Tale of Woe"! LOL
Happy Belated Birthday to the Birthday Girl!!!
Your family is gorgeous.
Publish now before everything pops around on me. -sigh-
Have I sighed enough?
Mari-Nanci
A very happy Birthday to Dagny! You have a budding artist in Baby Rhett. So glad that you and your loved ones had a good time at Cracker Barrel and that Essie took such good care of you all. Blessings. (Btw, Captain Jack Sparrow is indeed addictive).
@Mari-Nanci ... Yes that does sound convoluted so thank you for making the effort! xoxo
@LB ... YES he sure is! Nobody knows it better than me, haaaha! xoxo
My Bob has an addiction to gummy bears (except he picks the white ones out). I'm not telling him about these "modern" ones. Looks like you all had another fun celebration with Essie in charge. Dagny looks very fashionable, as usual. Baby Rhett always looks so happy. That was a nice surprise for TG - gifts that take some thought are so appreciated.
@Barb ... Well I had better steer clear of those gummy candies and all candy because I have a sweet tooth the size of Texas and it does not pay to indulge it! Bob is so funny, picking out the white ones! It was a joy to see Essie again, and yes our baby is such a happy little guy. Dagny is just her natural fashionista self, haahaa! Essie loved that jean jacket Dag was wearing. Yes TG loves his baseball cards. I think I saw a tear in his eye. xoxo