Reflections From The Kitchen Sink on Jerry’s Strawberry Pie

Jerry’s Strawberry Pie

If you’ve seen the movie CARS and are from my generation or the next one up, you will understand my heart on this. The world swirls so fast that there is no time for those cool nostalgic moments that captivated my childhood and early adult years. Take, for instance, strawberry pie at Jerry’s. Jerry’s might not have been a five-star restaurant, but it had a feel to it. You don’t get those warm fuzzies pushing wide-open through a drive thru or throwing nuts on the ground at the local steak joint. Last year about this time, one of the few remaining Jerry’s restaurants closed. It was more than the end of an era as it was the end of my being able to relive the past from time to time. I’m worried the past doesn’t matter to this generation. Like really worried.

It was more than the pie that warmed my heart when I saw the Jerry’s signs. When I was a kid, it was one of the routine stops when I stayed with my grandparents. Club sandwich platter and strawberry pie. My order, every stinking time. I would always get the smiling “your eyes were bigger than your stomach again” comment when my grandma was paying the bill. She wasn’t promoting waste at all. She loved the predictability of our visits, too. There was consistency and comfort, and I loved every minute of it.

Granny had been gone a decade when I met Michael, my super talented eventual husband who for a time played in bands at local dives that stayed open too late. While we were dating, we often had early morning meals after his shows. You guessed it: Jerry’s. And, yes, more often than not I ordered the club sandwich platter with strawberry pie for dessert. He thought that was a little crazy, but ironically, he almost always ordered the same breakfast will all the cholesterol a man could manage in one sitting. We would sit in a booth and talk way past any reasonable hour for people who had worked all day the day before. It was special time. There was a bonus of decor in “our” Jerry’s, too: a little bit of 50’s flair with Elvis and James Dean. There were even Blues Brothers statues in the entry. The tables were usually a little sticky, and the crackers were on the edge of being stale. There was just something about that place though. 

“You don’t know what you’ve got until it is gone” certainly fits the puzzle piece hole. This is another one of those bought lessons. I drove by the empty building yesterday. It is unmarked and desolate. The only sign that remains is one up the road a little ways beckoning people from the interstate. I wonder how many folks pull off only to be disappointed they can’t have that strawberry pie. 

I guess I have crossed over into that heart squeeze era of teary-eyed memories meaning more and having more satisfaction than the things available to me now. I would love to be able to have just five minutes of time to soak up the sensory pieces of a Jerry’s visit and feel the love that was always there with the company I had every time I was there. Simple things real do carry the most value, and strawberry pie is never a bad thing.

What place or places hold your fondest memories? What is your Jerry’s “strawberry pie”?

Bio-Melinda Campbell is a retired educator who currently focuses her efforts on raising her two teenaged boys, advocating for individuals with special needs and against drunk driving, and serving in her local community. Melinda has been gaining recognition for her writings labeled “Reflections from my Kitchen Sink” since the tragic death of her husband Michael in 2015. In her stories, she shares observations from her daily life including moments she has as a solo parent, a widow, and a woman who battles significant health issues including fibromyalgia and depression. BIG ANNOUNCEMENT- New Kitchen Sink Merchandise-Click Here?