April 2 – “CFS Wars”

We took a long drive this evening.  One of Mom's cousins died, and t]we drove up to Tomball, Texas, to the viewing.  That would be called a wake in some parts of the world.  Even around here it's also called "The Visitation."  I found out from Kel today that up north they have funerals at night and the wake usually lasts at least a week.  As it turned out, we couldn't go to the funeral tomorrow because I have to preside at a wedding, so going tonight was our only option.    Mom seemed pretty excited about going.  It was an opportunity to see relatives she hasn't seen in years.  The only ones I remember well are the cousins we have kind of kept up with over the years.  I Facebooked this particular cousin to let her know we were coming, so there would be at least one person there I could talk to.  She and her Mom both came.  So did her older brother.  So did my older brother.  And there were others I remembered once I saw their faces.   After hanging out for awhile (which is what you do at one of these things), we decided to get something to eat.  Julie and her Mom and Jay joined us for dinner at a place in Tomball Goodson's.  They claimed to have the best chicken fried steak in Texas.  That intrigued me, not just because I like chicken fried steak, but also because I remembered a place called Rodeo City Café when we lived in Mansfield that used to make the very same claim.  Comparing steaks and steakhouses.  Not something I have much call to do, but here was my chance.  Let the CFS Wars begin.   Since it was already after eight o'clock, we ordered the small steak, and when they brought it out, it covered the whole plate.  That's the way it was back in Mansfield, too, so that one was a tie.  As I recall, though, the steaks at Rodeo City Café were considerably thicker.  One up.  The waitress was great, even though she nearly passed out.  She said it was due to some medicine she had taken for a migraine headache.  I told her we would pray for her.  I have to give Goodson's the point on this one.  In Mansfield we were lucky if the waitress hollered at us to find a place to sit.  Speaking of places to sit, we all fit around one table.  At Rodeo City the tables were all one length, and if you were already seated, you might just have someone join you at the other end.  I actually liked that.  It was always fun to see who you'd get to sit with.  One to one.  In Mansfield, you always saw somebody you knew (Kind of like going to WalMart in Galveston).  Well, who should walk in while we were waiting for our table but one of our vets from Galveston, Dr. Cleary.  He was up there helping his son move.  Small world.  Still tied.  I think I could carry the comparison on for awhile, but something just hit me.  Rodeo City Café was torn down years ago.  As legends go, it was awesome.  It the real world, if you are ever in Tomball, check out Goodson's.   Isaiah 52:7 says, "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'"   Father, be with my cousins and uncles and aunts who are feeling the loss of the cousin I just knew as Junior.  Amen.