A Double Anniversary

Sheila and I celebrated a double anniversary last night, our 45th wedding anniversary and Sheila's fifth year of being cancer free.

For reasons I may not be completely able to explain, Sheila and I are both drawn to a strange little place down by Lake Tenkiller that is so deep in the sticks that you swear you are lost every time you head there but eventually drive up on it anyway.  Getting there is part of the mystique I guess.

Jincy's Kitchen in Qualls, Oklahoma is something of a legend.  During the depression it was a general store run by a

woman. Later, it was one of the sets for the movie, "Where the Red Fern Grows."  Now, still operated by a family member, it is a legendary family style restaurant that manages to draw a good crowd most nights it is open despite being absolutely in the middle of nowhere.

Wayne and Pam

We were joined by Sheila's niece, Pam Edwards, and her long time life companion Wayne Elliot.  Pam and Sheila were like sisters growing up and Pam is also a long term breast cancer survivor.

Mike and Jodi

Sheila and I's usual partners in crime, Mike and Jodi Sala, rode over with us.  Mike and I got to know each other serving on the board of a private school and a lifelong friendship developed between the families.

We arrived just as the band was tuning up, a local family group called Oklahoma Wildlife.  They were very good musicians but their lead singer had something extra. She sang with a big old smile on her face and just threw her head back and let it happen.  She was happy to be there, was having a great time and did her best to share her joy with everybody else. She succeeded.  Her joy and enthusiasm were contagious.

Between songs, the band emceed a game of Trivial Pursuit with the crowd.  Sheila won the first question by knowing that Pan was the "shepherd demigod that invented the flute."  The MC and the crowd were stunned.  I felt like blurting out, "appearances can be deceiving, folks.  She is actually a magna cum laude grad of the TU business school."  But, I didn't. I won the next question by knowing the name of Charles Darwin's ship on his alleged voyage of discovery, the Beagle.  By this time the crowd was getting restless. Somebody pointedly asked, "How in the world could you have known that?"  I just murmured that I read a lot and didn't say anything about multiple degrees or being a published author.  Given the mood of the crowd, our table held back after that.  I learned as a child that being too smart can start a game that ends badly.

You pretty well have to be southern to understand Jincy's.  The place is the distilled essence of the Eastern Oklahoma southern/hill culture.  It looks like the place where we would walk in as barefoot children clutching a precious nickle or dime to buy a

candy bar or a coke, a rare treat that was infrequently enjoyed.  It sounds like the places of our youth where the gentle Okie hill country dialect was spoken and homemade music filled the background.  It smells like the places of our youth. Jincy's is heated by a potbellied stove. The smell of the woodsmoke, combined with the old store smells and the authentic aromas of a southern kitchen, take you back to where you came from if you are southern.  Every person I have ever taken to Jincy's says the same thing about the food, "that tastes just like my Mama's cooking." And it does.  For a moment, you can close your eyes and be home again.

As we were leaving, the band stopped us and serenaded us on the front porch in celebration of our anniversary.  It was touching.  I wrapped my arm around Sheila and we stood there and listened as our companions joined in the little song celebrating our life together.  It was a sweet moment whose memory will last a lifetime.  It is important to mark the milestones in your life.  This one was well marked and will be fondly remembered.