"Some day you will be old enough
to start reading fairy tales again."
~C.S. Lewis
Oh yes, here I go again dwelling on my youth. Really, seriously, I am finding a great deal of joy in my current reality. I have my hobbies, such as photography and birding. I have three beautiful cat children, and a husband who treats me like I'm made of gold. But not that hideous gold spray paint Trump likes to cover everything with, but rather real gold, white gold, like my hair, because lets face it, there is plenty of white hair on the top of my head now. 64 will do that to you!
I wouldn't change my white hair for the world, but some days, when I look in the mirror, I see my life inching away to the point that I wonder when I will forget my past all together! Time. How could 45 years go by so fast? And how can it take the best of everything with it? Everything eventually changes, and passes away, sometimes even great restaurant's that you didn't think would ever go away! Grain D'or bakery, Banchero's Italian Dinners, and the ice cream parlour... Farrells, all the places I though would live forever. But that's what we do when we are young, live like there is no canceling waiting for us, which is as it should be!
I found a cool documentary the other day, that both delighted me, and broke my heart at the same time. It brought back such memories of spending Saturday afternoons, after movies, and Sunday afternoons after church, laughing with my friends, and just hanging out at the mall, at Ferrell's! The ice cream was smooth and Lucious, and they certainly had plenty of flavors to pick from! Farrell's was a big part of the fun for me. My personal favorite ice cream sundae was the, Blackberry Straw-ana, 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream, with bananas, whipped cream and toasty nuts on top!, Alan's favorite was the Gibson Girl Sundae. It was huge!
After my teens, when I began working, my job wasn't too far from the Hayward airport, and Southland Mall, so my friends and I would drop in there for lunch. That was in the early 1980's, and at that time the menu had been revamped somewhat, and you could build your own hamburger! There were tons of choices, but I was set in my ways, even back then. My burger always consisted of a burger Pattie, tomato, Swiss cheese, 3 slices of deli ham and thousand Island dressing. Never onions. Never pickles, Never lettuce. I still put that combination on my hamburgers even after all these years! Yes, it's a glorified Big Mac, but Farrell's buns were better, They toasted them with plenty of butter!
And now, it's all a memory. Who would have thought that a fantastic restaurant, like Ferrell's would fade away? Now I won't lie, there was a very unpleasant occurrence in the 1970's when a plane crashed into the restaurant in Sacramento, killing numerous people, but that didn't tarnish their reputation, Farrells endured for many years after that, in fact the last one just closed. Unfortunately it was way to far away from me to be able to visit one last time, Ferrell's joins the great culinary cemetery with other great diner restaurants like, Baker's Square, Lyons, and Carrows.
So, all that remains are the memories, And the haunting sounds of laughter, memories, of those who have long since passed.
Too many friends, in the blink of an eye.
Watch that really cool documentary. Farrell's was a very special place, you'll enjoy it's rich history!
