Jackie, Jason and George

There is a little"Yummy" Chinese place that I love to go get take out from. It has been a Chinese Restaurant for a long as I can remember. Then it closed. No warning that I know of. Good news was, another Chinese takeout opened even closer and I loved it. The food, the prices and the people. I found myself going several times a week for lunch or dinner for Jake and I.

There I was one day going to get Jake Rally's and I discovered the old "Yummy" placed has re opened sometime under a new name. Dad had gone to get us dinner a few times at the closer place and they treated him poorly, charging him extra for things, that I never paid extra for and after I had placed the order on the phone, messing the order up. It was very strange. I had never had those problems, but with Dad it happened every time. Was it discrimination because he was older and never said or questioned it? He just settled and paid? I tested it out a couple of times. Every time, the same thing. Hmmm, makes you wonder.

Well, sometime during all of that Dad had tried out the new place.He raved about it, loved the prices and the amount of food you got. I One day, craving Chinese, Dad didn't want the closer place so I decided to try the new named/owned place. Oh my, the people were so friendly, the amount of food was HUGE. You can get 3 meals off of what they give you for $6.58....yes that is correct $6.58 You get a combination platter which includes chicken fried rice and egg roll and your entree. And there is tons packed in a plastic container, which you can wash in the dishwasher and reuse over again. Forget buying storage containers.

Now, I haven't even told you the best part. Jackie, Jason and George. Let me tell you about George first. He is a bent over, white haired elderly gentleman that greets you with a cocked face an a grin. His reddish face looks almost windburned, and the spark in his eyes makes you look deeper into his soul, knowing something is there...but missing. I fell in love with George the first day he said "Can I take your order?" He has known the owners for about 5 years, he has mentioned a daughter an a son, both graduating around the same time I did. It turns out his son and wife have passed on. And he loves to show you pictures of them all. They are worn and torn, stuck to the plastic in his wallet. He helps out in the restaurant and with taking care of Jackie and Jason.

Jackie and Jason are two of the cutest little Chinese boys I have laid eyes on. Jackie is around 7, Jason about 4. ( I am guessing) Jason speaks no English. And Jackie, has forgotten how to speak a lot of Chinese since being in school, but he understands it. They have a play area at the restaurant and George keeps up with them. Although, let me tell you, I don't see how. Those boys are always on the move. Since I have now become a loyal frequent customer, we have all gotten to be buddies. As soon as the boys hear my voice, they come running from wherever they are in the place out to great me.

What a nice feeling. I think we often forget how innocent children are and how much they can make you warm up from the inside out. Now, I went to see my favorite 3 last night. I walked in and said" Hey good looking!" To which George just beamed. Jason came flying from the side room. Mom came out from the kitchen to shout for Jackie and Dad that I was here. I got hello's and smiles from all around. Jason came and took my hand, he wanted to show me something. So off we went (after I placed my order) into the other room. Where he proudly showed me a toy rocket that he took out of a cabinet. Then ran off to get a big bouncy ball to throw to me. So, I bounced the ball to him for a bit before he ran off to his next venture.

As I was the only person in the place. It was around 9pm. I sat in a chair when the ball came bouncing along my way. I caught it and tossed it back to Jackie. Which made Jason want to get in the action. Jackie wanted to play keep away from Jason, but I couldn't do that, so I intentionally threw it to Jason until he got tired of playing. Then it was just Jackie an I again.

Jackie threw the ball up high, which caused me to stretch, which caused my shirt to rise up a bit and show some stomach to which Jackie commented...."How come your belly is like that?"
"From all your Dad's cooking!" was my quick comeback.
To which an even quicker Jackie said" My Mom eats my Dad's cooking and it doesn't look like that!"

Point taken. Jackie's mom is about 4'10 and weighs about 90lbs