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Ron Smithson's avatar

I remember when my hometown DQ burned down in Cedar Hill and the feelings it evoked at the time. It was the end of an era. My first Blizzard there. Playing video games there with my friends as we took up a couple of booths. I’d slide in with my back to the wall with my legs and feet outstretched on the booth I was sitting in while sipping on a Coke or a Blizzard. DQ has always been a part of my life. As a child it was one of my mom’s favorite spots. She was an immigrant from the Philippines and was first introduced to DQ when her and my dad met and he brought her here to the States. He introduced her to the steak finger basket and it was the point of no return for her. Throughout her life it would be the only thing she would order from there. And I must admit it’s something she handed down to me. Although I’m always down for a Belt Buster or a Hunger Buster. As long as I can dip my fries into that delicious gravy I’m a happy man. Now in the town we live in here in Wylie, this DQ recently shut down and it’s brought about those same feelings. I feel shortchanged…especially when they continue to run DQ commercials on TV. That amount of cruelty goes without saying.

I know this goes far deeper than stories of DQ. It’s, unfortunately, a sign of the times. There’s truly nothing sacred anymore. Arguably, DQ stands as the last bastion of a bygone era. For those of us from small towns across Texas, especially. As we age and mature we hold on to those things more deeply. For many of us it was, as you said, a meeting place…before school, after school, after football games, on Sundays with the family for Sundaes on Sunday. And so many other times in between. DQ was and is a beacon for some of us. But like many other things in this life that light is slowly fading away.

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