The Wild Onion
When I was a little girl my grandparents lived south of Fort Worth in a little town named Joshua. I can still remember the large garden growing in the back full of strawberries and grape vines, the white barn with onions hanging from the ceiling, the lone cow inside the barn, and the closet full of toys in the back room. That house was my own person Barbie Dream House. It’s where I wanted to be and sometimes still long to go back to even though the current owners might freak out a little bit to find a 30 (something-ish) woman hanging out in their house, asking if I could watch Hey Dude on Nickelodeon.
We spent many summers and long weekends there as kids. One of them which I had no idea would circle back into my life 20 years later.
My grandparents had best friends named Mary and Nolan who spent their days fighting and feeding the raccoons that lived on their back porch. One long weekend with our grandparents Mary and Nolan called to say that they wanted to go to this restaurant that everyone had been raving about, The Wild Onion. Nolan swore he knew how to find it and that the long drive to North Fort Worth would be worth it.
We piled into our Grandparents large van in a way that would be considered highly illegal with modern seat belt laws and hit the road to this world class restaurant that was “raved” about.
That’s the night that I learned that there is a loop around Fort Worth that takes a very long time to circle and we found it out the hard way. Never had I seen my extremely wise grandfather so lost or frustrated. Every turn that Nolan was sure was the turn turned out to be the wrong turn.
My sister, brother and myself just played on the floorboard of the van, hopeless in trying to figure out where we currently were at. Hours (and I mean hours) later we arrived at The Wild Onion, which was in the middle of NOWHERE. The food was a buffet and extremely greasy. The way home was miserable. My little brother giggled the entire way back due to the gassy noises and smells that radiated inside the van. Everyone else tried to just grin and bear the misery.
It became a story of legendary proportion. For years following when together we would talk about The Wild Onion. One thing was definitely agreed about – we would never find that restaurant again.
20 + years later and a few weeks after Damion and I were married and settled down in Houston, my in-laws moved to far north west Fort Worth.
The first time we mapped their new address on the internet it became obvious that they were in the middle of nowhere. The reports about their new location were filled with telling us the distance to the grocery store, gas station or Fort Worth in general. It was clear that our first trip there to visit was going to be a long one and it was.
We drove past fields of cows and horses on winding country roads, sure of the fact that Jason from the Friday 13th movies was waiting for us around the next bend in the road. We were certainly in the middle of nowhere and once again, I was lost in the middle of nowhere.
That’s when I saw it for the first time.
The Wild Onion.
It was still there, standing tall.
Not only was it there but it was one road over from my in-laws new house.
All the sudden my worlds collided. Memories and jokes of never finding it again and here we were – going to a house that we visit many times a year within walking distance to the Wild Onion.
Over the past ten years it’s been a building that has always made me smile and laugh as we head down the road towards their house.
I’ve always waited to tell the girls the story until they were old enough to appreciate the full humor of the situation but on our trip to my in-laws this weekend I sadly discovered that it’s being torn down.
On a year when every single wedding gift has broken as we celebrated being married ten years I look back to see the symbolism to be amazing. I feel in a way that God’s telling me that we truly are one now. Those gifts were amazing and I loved them all but the newlywed days are gone. We’re old , moldy, and happier than ever. The Wild Onion was a special memory of my youth and I’ll always remember it but it’s time to move into the next chapter.
God had a plan for me all along. I never thought that the gassy Wild Onion would be a part of it but Mr. Byrd was brought into my life for a reason and God has made that crystal clear to me time and time again. Life is one gigantic loop and if you’re really blessed it might even be the loop that goes all the way around Fort Worth and leads you to The Wild Onion.