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Robert

7/31/2016

 
“I was raised in a small country church by salt-of-the-earth Christian parents, but somehow, for whatever reason, it didn’t take with me. The only thing I was paying attention to was the modern culture and particularly the music of the day. Music has always been my go-to for expressing emotions. One band I started following in the 80’s was an Irish group called U2. They had a unique sound and seemed to address more serious topics than the typical love and broken hearts. Their third album came out in 1983 and was about the violence in Ireland. The last tune on the record was called ‘40’ and went like this: ‘I waited patiently for the Lord / He inclined and heard my cry / He brought me up out of the pit / out of the miry clay / He set my feet upon a rock / And made my footsteps firm / Many will see / Many will see and hear / I will sing a new song / How long to sing this song?’ I remember asking a friend, ‘What’s that about?’ and he said, ‘It’s like a psalm.’ I said, ‘What?’ He said, ‘You know, like in the Bible, a psalm.’ I said, ‘What are they, like religious or something?’

“Then in a bookstore one day I ran across a book on the psalms with an intro written by U2’s lead singer, Bono. I couldn’t think of another rock-and-roll front man who would have done something like that, so I got it and read it. Bono said his favorite psalms were the ones of lament because of their honesty in wrestling with God. The lament psalms are full of complaint and protest. Reading that, I started feeling a pull back to my Christian roots. I was raised to be polite. Polite to others, and of course polite to God. Prayer was never modeled for me as a way to bring pain or doubt or questions to God. That would have been rude. Maybe they were teaching that when I was growing up, but like I said, I left the party early, so who knows what I missed? For most of my life my idea of prayer was to be nice when talking to God and don’t bring up anything unpleasant. I didn’t know I could express grief or brokenness or anger. The relationship I had with God was about as personal as the one I have with the lady at the dry cleaners. Once I started reading the psalms though, I saw how they expressed every emotion a person can experience. They’re messy and they’re real. So yeah, I came to God through rock music, and that tune, ‘40’, was my gateway. You just never know how grace works in our lives.”

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Navy

7/30/2016

 
“When I first found out I was going to be a dad, I couldn’t believe it. She’s almost three years old and I still can’t believe it when I look at her even now. I know that I’m working for somebody other than myself; it’s not about me anymore. It’s about her. Everything I do, I do for her. I love it when I’m just standing there and she grabs onto my leg, looks up into my eyes, and says, ‘This is my daddy.’”
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Terry

7/29/2016

 
"My biggest challenge right now is maintaining a positive attitude and not letting myself get jaded by all the b.s. of life. The world's a colorful place. Let's take time to listen. And let's have fun with each other."
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Robert

7/28/2016

 
"The happiest days of my life were when I was coming up. We lived out in the country in Humboldt, Tennessee, and I remember playing out in the fields with my brothers and sisters. We worked hard too. I learned early how to cook and wash clothes and do my book work. My parents stayed on my butt about my grades, and I’m thankful for that. All of us, the whole family, chopped soybeans and picked cotton and strawberries. There was a dairy farm across the field and sometimes we’d go over there and get ice-cold milk. I’ll never lose those memories. I loved every bit of it. Kids who grow up in the city don’t have any idea what that kind of life is like. We moved to Memphis when I was a little older, and I went to Cypress Middle, Lester, and Treadwell. I loved going to school. I ran track in high school and still lift weights sometimes. I was an athlete. I’ve had a successful life because I’ve been dwelling with the Lord a long time. I owe my success to him."
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Steve

7/25/2016

 
"My father’s mom passed away when I was 19, and when I went to the funeral, my father was there. I hadn’t seen him since I was 6 years old. I missed my whole life growing up without him. The day of the funeral I met uncles and cousins---a lot of them around my age---that I didn’t even know I had, which was kind of disturbing. If I’d had a chance to be around my father’s side of the family, I would have had a lot of male role models. I didn’t have that on my mother's side because they’re mostly women. One of the people I met at the funeral was my father’s uncle, Uncle Ernest. He was an older guy even then, but he reached out to me.  He’s the one who helped me get my first car. I think that was probably the happiest day of my life. I was 22 years old and had never had a car of my own before. My mom had taught me how to drive in the big parking lot of a grocery store when I was younger. That was scary: she was yelling and screaming because she was nervous and scared, and that made me more nervous than I already was. It didn’t take long to learn though. A few goes and I had it. When I got that first car, I was so excited. Nobody had ever done anything like that for me before. My mom’s family was never really able to, but my father’s family was pretty well off. The first place I drove was to see Uncle Ernest. I hugged him and thanked him for it. Since he was older and kind of scared of sports cars, he wouldn’t get in it, so I didn’t get to give him a ride. I spent time with him as long as he was living, but he passed away a couple of years ago. Now I try to get my own nieces and nephews things for their birthdays and for Christmas. It’s been kind of a struggle for me and I can’t do a lot, but I’ve done as much as I can over the years."
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James

7/25/2016

 
"I'm 4 years old. I'm about to start school. I'm going to learn how to sit down and listen to my teacher. My mama is teaching me my ABCs and my numbers and my colors. I know all my colors. That's red. That's blue. And that's black. I can sing my ABCs too. They're going to have toys at school and blocks and books. I like to go to the library and get books. I like books about SpongeBob."
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Darnell

7/25/2016

 
"I spent 10 years locked up in the penitentiary and just got released in April of this year. When I walked out that door, I didn't know which way to turn. I'd lost everything. And so much had changed on the outside; it was nothing like when I left. It seemed like the whole world had done a 360 and gotten so much worse. When I first got out, I did a lot of walking, a lot of thinking and examining myself. I had been a crackhead and an alcoholic before, but I haven't touched any drugs since my release. I still walk everywhere. I don't want to get into a car with somebody and they have something on them and I don't know about it. We get stopped, it won't matter. I'd be going back to jail and I don't want that. I stay to myself now, do things by myself or with my lady. Sometimes I feel like my life is over; you know how you get sometimes. But I try to keep moving forward and doing the right thing. Deep down inside, I know that without faith, there's no hope."
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Clyde

7/24/2016

 
"The hardest part about being homeless is just that. You don’t have a spot. I come here to the soup kitchen to eat almost every day, but then I have to figure out where my other meals are coming from. It’s hard to keep yourself clean too. In the winter, you’re looking for heat, and in the summer when it's hot, like today, you’re looking for someplace cool.  Just surviving day-by-day is hard. It’s dangerous too. Early this morning I was at a bus stop and a guy sat down beside me. Next thing I knew, he had set fire to the trashcan. I mean, it was ridiculous. I’ve seen young guys jump on older guys who were sleeping at the bus stop, so most times I go up under a bridge to sleep.
 
"When I was younger, I worked full-time, but the last job I had was part-time with an independent land surveyor. When he retired, I lost that job and I haven't worked since. I turn 62 this year though and I’m applying for Social Security. Hopefully it’s going to come through and I’ll be able to get the money I paid into the system all those years. Before I can apply for Social Security, I have to get my ID straightened out, but it’s hard to do that when I don’t have an address and don’t pay rent or bills. I was born in Memphis, but it’s hard to get my birth certificate because I don’t have any proof of who I am. I’m going to try to get it all worked out. Maybe soon I won't be homeless."

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For more information about the upcoming Friends of the Poor Walk/Run to benefit the Ozanam Center St. Vincent de Paul Food Mission, click HERE.
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St. Vincent de Paul Food Mission:  "The Saint Vincent de Paul food mission in Memphis is critically important to the people we serve. It is the only food mission in midtown open every day. Open about two hours each day, seven day a week, 365 days a year it provides for the hunger of our guests."

Angelia

7/23/2016

 
"My husband and I were living in South Carolina, and we both got job offers in Memphis, so we moved down, but when we got here, we found out the organization that had offered the jobs didn’t even exist. I started working for temp services, but then that fell through. We did little odds and ends jobs, but we were barely making it. Then he passed away and I was on the streets. I didn’t have anything to live on, but someone showed me where the  soup kitchen was, so I started coming here every day to eat. They serve meals 365 days a year, and it saved my life. My situation has changed for the better since that time. I have my own house now and all my finances are straightened out. On July 1, 2010, I went from being a soup kitchen guest to being a volunteer. I still come every day except for Sunday---I take that day off---but now I’m handing out tickets, assisting the handicapped guests, and doing whatever else is needed. This is a fantastic place. Every day we have a crowd to feed. If you’re homeless, come here and eat with us. We’ll pray with you if you need it. Or if you need someone to talk to, come look for me. I’ll sit down with you and listen."
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For more information about the upcoming Friends of the Poor Walk/Run to benefit the Ozanam Center St. Vincent de Paul food mission, click HERE.
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St. Vincent de Paul Food Mission:  "The Saint Vincent de Paul food mission in Memphis is critically important to the people we serve. It is the only food mission in midtown open every day. Open about two hours each day, seven day a week, 365 days a year it provides for the hunger of our guests."
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Lou

7/22/2016

 
“When I was growing up, my mom was going to school full-time and working part-time, so it was my job to feed my two little brothers. I liked cooking anyway, and my mom taught me a lot of little stuff right there in her kitchen. I’m not a cookbook cook; I’m a mama’s cook. Believe me, I made a lot of mistakes in the beginning, but she said, ‘You’ll get it. You’ll be all right.’ I opened my first restaurant, Catfish Express, in 1985 when I was 26 years old. I didn’t know what I was doing. I had a recipe and an idea, but no business savvy at all. It was trial by fire. I learned from that. I had another restaurant that didn’t make it, and I swore off the food industry for the rest of my life, till a good friend of mine said, ‘Lou, I want you to go down on Millbranch and check out this building.’ I said, ‘I don’t want another restaurant’, but he said, ‘Just go look at it.’ So I went to look at it and decided to open Uncle Lou’s Fried Chicken. 
 
“The happiest day here was when we got a call from the Food Network people. They were coming to town to do a story on Memphis-style barbecue and whenever they go on location, they look to see what else is hot in the area. All our online reviews were positive, so they decided to give us a call. I was like, ‘Ma’am, do you know how long I’ve been praying for a national shot?’ They came in January, I got to meet Guy Fieri, and we had a ball shooting the show. It was so funny because you know, he’s got a lot of one-liners and I do too, so the producer was like, ‘Come on, guys, cut it out.’ He’d say something, I would respond, and we’d be laughing. Of course it would be on camera, so we’d have to shoot it over again. The show aired on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives on August 4, 2008. Before the show, we were on the brink of going out of business, seriously. We didn’t have a big enough customer base. I knew we had a good product and good service, but the masses didn’t know about us. So when I found out we were going to be featured on the Food Network, I called my creditors and said, ‘You got two options. If this thing takes off, you’ll get paid. If not, I’ll be out of business and have to file bankruptcy. So I guess you guys might want to wait.’ That’s what happened, and it worked out for us. After the show, things took off, and we’ve been here for 15 years now. We serve a lot of different things, but fried chicken is what we're best known for. The recipe comes from my great-grandmother, Rosie Gillespie of Nesbit, Mississippi. She passed it down to her granddaughter---my mom--- and my mom passed it down to me.
 
“If you want to be in the restaurant business, you’ve got to love what you’re doing. I’m a people person, and I try to meet and greet as many people as possible who come through that door. I love talking to the customers and I love keeping them satisfied.”

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Uncle Lou's great-grandmother, Rosie Gillespie, originator of the family's fried chicken recipe:
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The Food Network show aired on August 4, 2008. Below are notes from customers who have visited Uncle Lou's from all over the world.
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Click HERE or on the image below to view the Food Network segment:
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Image credit (below): Uncle Lou's Fried Chicken
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Loved the fried chicken, sausage and cheese plate, and honey buttered biscuits!
Especially loved meeting Uncle Lou!

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Lou Martin, Owner, Uncle Lou's Fried Chicken, 3633 Millbranch Rd.
Food Network Review:  Uncle Lou's Fried Chicken
Website:  http://unclelousfriedchicken.com/
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/unclelousfriedchicken/
Ph. 901-332-2367
Email:  unclelousfriedchicken@yahoo.com

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