I thought for sure I'd be able to find a picture of Jerry online somewhere, because everybody knows Jerry Gazaway, but alas, there is no picture, and not everybody reading this will know Jerry Gazaway. What is the world coming to??
Today I am at Panera and I was reminded of Jerry Gazaway. Jerry is a friend from Marshalltown who is best remembered by me as the man who took me and my sisters closest in age to Burger King about two Saturdays every month during the summer, and sometimes during the school year. If we were lucky, after lunch he would take us on a "who cares tour" around Marshalltown. To me, Jerry was the man who had lived in Marshalltown for FOREVER and who had a story to tell about every place we saw. Sometimes he just drove us around and showed us all the places in Marshalltown where he had put in playground equipment. Even though he had lived there so long, he still managed to get "lost" and would need our directions to get us home. He was the first person I knew to own a cell phone and it was hilarious to call Mom from the car as we pulled in. Cell phones were crazy! Jerry would also take us to roller skate at Skatetown every once in a while. What a great sport he was. I'm not sure now what he did for all those hours as we skated and danced on the floor. I'm sure he was just happy to see us having fun, and happy to give our mom a little bit of a break. Sometimes we got to invite our friends to go skating with us. That was just amazing. This is when Ashlee Duimstra was introduced to the wonderful Jerry.
The reason I thought of Jerry today was simply because I was sitting here at Panera (heavenly in itself) and I saw a man who was probably Jerry's age when he took us out (50's), sitting with four girls. They were probably his daughters, because there are probably not many people in the world who would treat multiple girls, they are not related to, to lunch on a Saturday afternoon out of the goodness of their heart. God knows we needed Jerry, maybe he needed us too.?. Anyway all these girls looked related and I'm willing to bet they got to pick Panera this morning. We always picked Burger King. Jerry would say we could go ANYWHERE, but we always said Burger King. If it were now, I might pick Pizza Ranch; the best thing to happen to Marshalltown since the Greg Roush family moved back. :) As the man left with his daughters he looked incredibly happy. That's what I remember about Jerry too, and about us as we left with our Happy Meal toys. We always ordered Happy Meals, even though Jerry would tell us it was not McDonalds. I think at some point we finally did start ordering Kid's Meals.
Thank you to Jerry.
Why must we all get older? This makes me so sad. I think this would be a good time in my life to hit the "Freeze time" button. It's a little depressing to think about how the Jerrys in my life are day-by-day getting older and I'm not there with them to enjoy our days together. I may see these friends the next time I find myself in Marshalltown, but it doesn't seem like enough. By God's grace I will be able to adequately express my thankfulness the next time we meet.
I can't think of the verse right now, but I know that somewhere in the Bible it says that if it is possible for you to give, you should give without hesitation. Give time, money, and PRAISE. I love giving and receiving praise. Time and sometimes money are a lot more difficult for me to give. I hope I can praise the Jerrys sometime soon.
Now it's time for the best part about Panera: the icy mocha. YUM.
Today I am at Panera and I was reminded of Jerry Gazaway. Jerry is a friend from Marshalltown who is best remembered by me as the man who took me and my sisters closest in age to Burger King about two Saturdays every month during the summer, and sometimes during the school year. If we were lucky, after lunch he would take us on a "who cares tour" around Marshalltown. To me, Jerry was the man who had lived in Marshalltown for FOREVER and who had a story to tell about every place we saw. Sometimes he just drove us around and showed us all the places in Marshalltown where he had put in playground equipment. Even though he had lived there so long, he still managed to get "lost" and would need our directions to get us home. He was the first person I knew to own a cell phone and it was hilarious to call Mom from the car as we pulled in. Cell phones were crazy! Jerry would also take us to roller skate at Skatetown every once in a while. What a great sport he was. I'm not sure now what he did for all those hours as we skated and danced on the floor. I'm sure he was just happy to see us having fun, and happy to give our mom a little bit of a break. Sometimes we got to invite our friends to go skating with us. That was just amazing. This is when Ashlee Duimstra was introduced to the wonderful Jerry.
The reason I thought of Jerry today was simply because I was sitting here at Panera (heavenly in itself) and I saw a man who was probably Jerry's age when he took us out (50's), sitting with four girls. They were probably his daughters, because there are probably not many people in the world who would treat multiple girls, they are not related to, to lunch on a Saturday afternoon out of the goodness of their heart. God knows we needed Jerry, maybe he needed us too.?. Anyway all these girls looked related and I'm willing to bet they got to pick Panera this morning. We always picked Burger King. Jerry would say we could go ANYWHERE, but we always said Burger King. If it were now, I might pick Pizza Ranch; the best thing to happen to Marshalltown since the Greg Roush family moved back. :) As the man left with his daughters he looked incredibly happy. That's what I remember about Jerry too, and about us as we left with our Happy Meal toys. We always ordered Happy Meals, even though Jerry would tell us it was not McDonalds. I think at some point we finally did start ordering Kid's Meals.
Thank you to Jerry.
Why must we all get older? This makes me so sad. I think this would be a good time in my life to hit the "Freeze time" button. It's a little depressing to think about how the Jerrys in my life are day-by-day getting older and I'm not there with them to enjoy our days together. I may see these friends the next time I find myself in Marshalltown, but it doesn't seem like enough. By God's grace I will be able to adequately express my thankfulness the next time we meet.
I can't think of the verse right now, but I know that somewhere in the Bible it says that if it is possible for you to give, you should give without hesitation. Give time, money, and PRAISE. I love giving and receiving praise. Time and sometimes money are a lot more difficult for me to give. I hope I can praise the Jerrys sometime soon.
Now it's time for the best part about Panera: the icy mocha. YUM.
4 comments:
Deb! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this post! I love how your heart shines through, how it makes me think of special people I haven't seen in a while, and how it makes me want to be that special person in other's lives. You are spectacular! Hope you enjoyed your Panera experience as much as the icy mocha. :)
Great blog, Deb! Jerry would be so moved to read this. I saw him the other night for the first time in a long time. It was so nice to see him again. I always think about him when it's been too long.
im pleased to say that i will be seeing jerry like, every week in the winter. and he and my future husband will play golf and become great pals. whoopee!!
After reading this awesome piece of writing, I have this to say:
He is still getting lost in Marshalltown without his "who cares tour girls".
He must be unbelievably old (living in Marshalltown "forever".
He received much more than he ever gave.
He had trouble getting through this with his watery eyes.
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