Tony's

I liked it when we owned Tony's. Yes it was a lot of work. Yes our family pretty much fell apart during the years we were at Tony's. No those are not good things. What I enjoyed about the time we were at Tony's was the sense of community. I liked the regulars. Knowing what time what they were coming in and what they wanted to drink. I liked the Constable Volunteer Fire Department's annual BBQ and making 30 gallons of cole slaw. I like the nights when I stayed up with Daddy Pat. I would play pool or Foosball. Stock the cooler. Cook a few pizzas or hamburgers - I liked going across the street to Mr. Tallon's store and buying a root beer and cherry pie. Mallo Cups, Mr. Tallon always had Mallo Cups. I tried to save the point cards but never had enough to buy anything. I liked being a part of the community. We all need to belong to something. Especially as a teenager, we were celebrities because we had something the people in the community wanted. I liked the spaghetti supper fundraisers for Starlighters. I liked cooking Thanksgiving dinner for a our customers. Went to bed exhausted every night, but exhausted in a good way - exhausted because you had done a good day's work. You don't have that in a city the size of Los Angeles. I could go to the same store everyday for a year and never see a person I know. When I was in Malone this summer almost time I went to Price Chopper I saw someone I knew - or someone who knew me - I like that. There is something nice about a neighbor stopping by because they see a strange car in your driveway, or because they know you haven't been feeling well and they just want to check up on you. Tony's was like that everyday. Except Monday's - we were closed on Monday's. A lot of times we would go out to eat on Monday's. Funny, you own a restaurant and on your day off you go out to eat at a restaurant. One time when we had a fire in the kitchen the dog woke me up. The whole place was filled with smoke. Everyone got out, except for Mommie. She wouldn't leave until she put her make up on. So up in her room I waited with her, stuffed a towel under the door to keep out the smoke. When she was all "fixed" up the firemen took us out the window and down the ladder. Of course we knew all those volunteer firemen because they came into the bar almost every day. On Christmas Eve we closed at 6:00 pm because Mommie said all those men should be home with their families. Then Christmas day we reopened at 6:00 pm because Mommie said you can spend too much time with your family. When I came back to California I was sick. One of the doctors I saw was from Montreal - he use to come into Tony's. He said he remembered these little girls in smocks who were the waitresses - I laughed - I was one of those little girls in a smock...probably waited on him. Small world! We do need to belong to something bigger than ourselves. It is human nature and human need. We are not islands - we might think we are, we may even want to be - but we are not. Went to Tony's this summer - first time I had been in there since 1982...that is a long time. It has changed a lot. Not completely, the stove was the same and the counter top in the kitchen was the same - They have built a nice back porch and moved the bathrooms. It was kind of weird to be there - bittersweet I'd say. Rekindled some precious memories - brought back some bad memories - Nothing is all good or bad. Tony's was not all good or bad - I choose to remember the good things. The people, the parties, the laughter - the sense of belonging and the sense of community. These were the good things about Tony's. If we learned about hard work and sacrifice, well that was hard at the time, but it helped us in the long run. A resilient bunch of girls we turned out to be. We lost a lot during those years at Tony's - we learned a lot. It is as I continually say; We can choose to remember the good or the bad - why remember the bad? Remember the good times and find what of value you gained for the experience. Yeah, I enjoyed Tony's. Sometimes I wish I had skipped college and tried to make a go of keeping the place ours. It was Mommie's dream to own her own restaurant - though she never would have wanted me to stay. Mommie really was a remarkable woman. The love she held for her children was the greatest! Always put us first, and never attempted to hold us back. Never put her needs in front of ours - Goodness I miss her. For my life I try to live so she will continue to be proud of me. I try to be as giving as she was - her heart so large - her humility so real. God took my biological mother, he sure gave me a great replacement. Such love - between Mommie and I. Maybe that is what I liked about Tony's - I knew it was Mommie's dream to own a restaurant and it was nice to see her have her dream realized - she gave so much for her children to realize their dreams...that is what Mothers do. Yeah, I reckon knowing Mommie was living her dream, that might be what I most enjoyed about the time we spent at Tony's.