What We Lost When the Tables Started Turning

The kind of place that knew your name before you sat down.

There was a BBQ joint on Cook Avenue in North Huntsville — right next to the D-Home — that I used to think about more than it probably deserved. Nothing fancy. No sign you'd notice from the highway. Just smoke and a parking lot and the kind of door that always seemed like it had been open forever. You walked in and the person behind the counter already had an idea of what you wanted. Not because they were psychic — because they remembered you.

That place is gone now. And honestly, so is a lot of what made it matter.

Teaching My Son to Serve — Why We Show Up for Our Community Twice a Month

Two Saturdays out of every month, Tytus and I show up to serve. We're not doing it for recognition, we're not doing it for content — we do it because we genuinely believe that one of the most important things you can pour into a child is the habit of showing up for other people. And cooking is our lane, so that's where we plug in.

Last year I decided Tytus was old enough and mature enough to start coming alongside me for real. Not just watching, not just tagging along — actually working. Cutting, prepping, cooking, serving. And he has risen to it every single time. I'm proud of him in a way that's hard to put into words. Watching your son understand at a young age that his time and his skills are worth something to other people — that's the kind of thing that sticks with a kid.

Tytus putting in work — this is what showing up looks like.