I was listening to WJGA this morning and heard “La Grange” by ZZ Top and it made me smile! I loved listening to that great band as I drove up I-75 in my 1987 Chevrolet Eurosport. My teen sons actually fell in love with that four-door sedan after they took it for a quick spin. It came with front wheel drive and was VERY peppy. That was the only new car I ever owned. I saw it in a dealership window and turned around and went back to check it out completely. I had already noticed one pass me as I headed to work and knew I wanted that model. I’m glad I could get a loan there and buy my future fun.

I was still commuting to Trust Company at Old National Highway and the Eurosport was a perfect vehicle to get onto I-75 with ease. I missed my old 8 tracks but was glad when cassettes came out – another old favorite. I still have cassettes but nothing to play them on, and I do enjoy my neat latest version of recorded music. Sometimes when I’m driving to church, or to Gold’s Gym, I’ll take out some of the recordings Norman made for me, and smile as I recall him making those neat gifts for me. I still love Bob Seger and The Bee Gees, and am so glad the radio has introduced me to more great groups. Naturally I have lots of their neat music, but I have all of Alan Jackson’s.

Another old favorite I really miss is our annual Homecoming at Mt. Bethel. I loved seeing all the sweet faces, plus hearing some wonderful gospel music, and most of all, the awesome covered dishes we loved. I’m not supposed to dine on those anymore though, sigh. I did miss a recent array of wonderful food at our church as I slept through a birthday celebration for one of our amazing members. I’m glad I could see pictures of those attending, plus all the food, and the decorations for our former choir leader Richard Barham. I loved hearing his Sunday School lessons, and he can still sing well too! I admire all his wife did for Mt. Bethel and they are both definitely two of my favorites.

We are still blessed with a dedicated pianist and choir director plus a hardworking choir, and we do learn new songs. But we also go back to some of my old favorites. I enjoy when we sing a medley or combination of some of those sweet memories. I’d never heard gospel until I came to Homecoming in 1959, but soon knew I had found some more fun and favorites too.

I still enjoy the occasional trip down to Fresh Air Barbecue for another old favorite. We were fortunate to grow up close to that neat restaurant. I still remember our driver’s education teacher treating us to one of their sandwiches after we had pleased him with our hard work and dedication.

I still have my old Jackson High School annual and of course it is filled with lots of other favorites; students, teachers, and clubs. It’s interesting to see the many companies that had ads in the back part of the book and their phone numbers only had four digits! They did make our big memory book less expensive for our parents via those ads. I also noticed that Planters Warehouse and Lumber Company was one of the contributors for a school in another county.

Another old favorite of mine was the drive-in theater we had back in the day. I loved watching those neat movies from our car and later brought my pre-teen sons there to enjoy that amazement. I am so lucky that I lived through those times and made wonderful memories of lots of favorites!

Beverly Wittler has four children, eight grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. She lives in McDonough.