A Reluctant Farewell
A little over seven years ago, I was driving home from Tyler after a writers’ workshop, when I saw something that made me stomp on the brakes, but not in time to make sure of what I’d seen. Had I just seen a sign for a Hungarian restaurant?
The minute I got home, I sat down with my laptop and looked it up. Sure enough, East Texas had a Hungarian restaurant. We couldn’t wait to try it out. And when we did, we loved it. The food was good—European comfort food. In those days it was served on paper plates with plastic flatware. But what made it such a lovely place were the proprietors, Mike and Brigitta. A true mom-and-pop endeavor, they worked together and treated every customer like a welcome friend. Mike does all the cooking, and Brigitta waitresses and washes up and wrangles social media.
We almost never eat out, but when we did our first choice was usually Brigitta’s. Over the years we’ve had so many fascinating conversations there. We’ve taken our kids there. I’ve gone there for birthday dinners. And in the middle of the pandemic, when Lucy and Tanner got married, we went there for the wedding supper and they made a strudel just for us. So we really did think of Mike and Brigitta as friends—which is why we were so horrified when I saw their announcement on Facebook that they’d be closing for good next weekend.
We knew we had to go there one last time. Wednesday we had church and yesterday I had my ladies’ night, so it had to be tonight because we have company tomorrow. So I messaged Brigitta this morning and asked if I could reserve a table for two for 6:30, and she replied that she could squeeze us in. Everybody wants to stop by and show their support one more time!
When we walked in the door this evening, Brigitta greeted me with, “I’m so glad you have a reservation!” They were having to turn quite a few people away.
We had a lovely meal, now served on real dishes with real silverware—all of which will soon be sold. And we were waited on by Brigitta and her daughter, who has grown from a child into a young lady in the years we’ve been going. Afterward we lingered to talk and take some photos and browse the souvenirs. They are literally selling everything! Walter picked out a German stein, but I wanted something Hungarian, so I chose this diaphanous hand-painted silk scarf from Hungary:
It is lighter than air! And so exquisite. It was so hard to walk out that door for the last time. We will miss everything about it.
Of course, other things did happen today. I went to Aldi earlier than usual and got that out of the way. Then Jasper helped me get some stuff down from upstairs to add to the boxes I had going to the thrift store. He came with me to drop the stuff off, because the thrift store had a sale today where they would give you a bag and you could fill it up with all the clothes you could stuff into it for $10. Jasper needs clothes and has no money, so this was a great opportunity for him. He got three pairs of trousers and a shirt, and is talking about going back tomorrow.
This afternoon I had a brisket to cut up:
It was roasted to perfection after 24 hours. We won’t be eating it until tomorrow, though.
Then I had two more tents to deliver, which leaves just one. The lady who wanted that one seemed quite anxious to get it, but she has ghosted me since yesterday evening so I think maybe she changed her mind and I need to change the status back to “available.”
Anyway, it’s a good thing I sold those tents because that’s what paid for tonight’s dinner at Brigitta’s!
Parting Shot:
My amateurish attempt at a selfie with Mike and Brigitta. We were all laughing at my incompetence and the result was a pretty cute photo.