A Truly Texas Birthday

I awoke on my 29th birthday in Houston, after visiting a close friend for the couple of days preceding the big day. I thought of my current situation......unemployed and living with my parents......and while I must admit, it was a bit depressing, it didn't stop me from having a truly great day in Texas. I left my friend's place early in the morning and decided to take Alternate 90 back to San Antonio, which would be one of the best decisions of the day. Alternate 90 took me first through Richmond/Rosenburg where I stopped off and reminisced about an adventure at the local movie theater that Scott, Josh and I endured after Scott got a little too excited about seeing 'Escape from LA' with Kurt Russell!



With good thoughts in my head, I headed on down the road and saw a turn off for Wharton.....only 27 miles away. I decided that I need to turn off and go see my home town. After all, when was the next time I was going to be near Wharton on my birthday? So, I took the turn off and drove down Hwy 59 into the familiar pecan trees and farmland that surrounded Wharton, TX, my birthplace.



Right after turning off at the clinic and hospital that was home to my dad for so many hours during our younger years, Alan Jackson's 'Remember When' came on the radio, and I must admit, a tear came down as I drove by my old middle school. I drove through downtown and then by my old junior high school. After that, I drove to the old hospital and the building that I was born in and stopped the car and said a prayer of thanks. I then went to my old high school to see some of my former teachers and surprisingly, they remembered me. It was a humbling experience when they asked what I was doing now and I had to reply that I was 'unemployed and back home' but just the same, it's the humbling experiences that mean the most. After talking with my former teachers, I decided to head by my old elementary school for a bit. Then out to our old house and a walk around the perimeter to the back yard to find all of our peach trees gone, and of course, the graves for all our German Shepherds. I then decided to go visit a friend and drove to the cemetery to see the grave of my friend John Wobbe.



After reliving life and death in my hometown, I decided to hit the road again and made my way through Egypt (no, really) and Eagle Lake and met up again with Alternate 90. The drive was a beautiful one that took me through some small Texas towns I hadn't been through in ages. Just outside of Hallettsville, I stopped off at Janak's meat market and picked up a jalapeno sausage sandwich with mustard and homemade sauerkraut that was pretty amazing. I stopped off in Shiner and wanted to do the brewery tour, but it was going to put me late for the rest of the day. So, I kept on rolling down the road and made it back to San Antonio in time for my counseling session. After counseling, I went back out to my parent's place to go for my customary birthday run to clear my head. I then met my parents, grandparents, my nephew, my cousin Christina, and my brother Scott and his wife for a nice meal at a Thai restaurant in town. I know, BBQ might have been a better fit, but hey, you can't beat good Thai food!

I would have loved to do absolutely nothing up in DC with the one I love, but this was a pretty damn good day. If nothing, it was reflective and humbling and that's not necessarily a bad thing on your birthday.