My Granddaddy, Gus Shirley, proudly wore this here Texas Flange hat all around his place in Zwolle, LA. He just beamed at the thought of his grandkids doin' so well for themselves.
Not too long before he passed on, he gave dat hat to my Daddy, who wore it feelin' dat same sense of pride. Just recently, my daddy was travelin' up through Oklahoma and stopped in at Bledsoe's Diner over in Atoka.
They got 'em a tradition of hangin' hats up on the wall for good. My daddy figured dat old hat was gettin' mighty worn out and needed a final restin' place. So he hung it right up above the coffee pot, with the Company logo pointin' straight out for ever'body to see.
If y'all ever make it up to Atoka, you make sure to stop by Bledsoe's. Not just for my mushy connection to dat hat, but 'cause they got some mighty fine food.
Blessin's to all y'all. I reckon I'll eventually get back to bloggin' 'bout flanges, but let's face it, there ain't a whole lot of changes happenin' in our industry.
