It must be the week to make friends in random cafes. Tuesday morning I chatted with total strangers in Garland’s Waffle House on Interstate 30 just east of downtown Dallas. I spoke early this morning at a law enforcement conference in Brenham, not too far from Houston. On the way home, we stopped to eat at a little mom and pop eatery in the middle of nowhere. The name of the place is the Hiway 77 Café. It is a very simple medal building that is situated quite literally in the middle of a hay field just north of Rosebud and about 42 miles south of Waco. There were only a few cars there at 11:30 this morning, so we almost chose not to stop. What a mistake that would have been!

Wow! The food was great. They serve old fashioned, home-style cooking. Jan and I split a generous bowl of homemade peach cobbler after our meal. We had a very pleasant visit with owners, who also serve as wait staff. The Hiway 77 Café is particularly unique in its décor. There are over 200 8X10 photos of service men and women that date who served in a time period from the Civil War up to those who are stationed in Iraq. When you receive your menu, you are given an insert listing all of the names of the veterans and the corresponding number on the photo displayed on the wall.

I am interested in military history, so I was enthralled. We both wondered what motivated the owners to honor these men and women. I regret that we did not ask. I can’t help but wonder if someone very close to them was killed in the line of duty. I was reminded of an important principle, as we enjoyed our Texas style cooking today.   

People don’t want their loved ones forgotten. Can you imagine what it is like for someone to hear that a friend saw a picture of their relative in that café unexpectedly? I saw dozens of vintage World War II pictures. I of course thought of my own father’s picture in uniform during that time period.

We are going to have to find an excuse to go to Waco, so we can drive a little further south and visit the Hiway 77 Café again. I plan to ask more questions on the next go around. In the meantime, I am going make sure that I ask other questions too. I need to inquire about people’s loved ones. I particularly need to ask about their relatives who are deceased. People need to know that such individuals have not been forgotten. Hats off to the Hiway 77 Café for making that a reality!