My dear grandfather Bill Burgess passed away 33 years ago, but this past Thanksgiving, we could feel his presence. And not just around our family table.
He was also there with some people he had never met, but in a place where he was no stranger.
In the late 1950s, he owned Bill’s Shopette Confectionary at 2019 Habersham St., between 36th and 37th. The exact same little building is now home to the poetically-named Narobia’s Grits and Gravy.
It is a warm and friendly family restaurant. The food is mouth-watering, serious home cooking. And Thanksgiving morning it was all free.
Click here to view photos of Narobia's Grits and Gravy Thanksgiving Breakfast
Order after order of kindness-to-go. Free breakfast to anyone who came by. Anything off the menu. Five hundred meals in all.
It’s something that owners Howard and Renee Reid have done for seven years. It comes from their religion. From their heartfelt impulse to share and take care of their neighbors. “For the glory of God.”
Howard says that they decided early on not to have any limits on what people can order for the free breakfast. “Sacrifice isn’t sacrifice unless it hurts. We want this to cost us money.
“We feel good when somebody is surprised that they can get the seafood or lamb omelet. Or the liver and onions, the smothered shrimp, the crab or salmon patties, the lamb steak, or the beef sausage.”
Howard says he learned this kind of generosity at a young age from his great-grandmother. Her home was always open to feed neighbors, especially those less fortunate.
Now his grandmother, 90-year-old Annie Mae Reid, comes by a few times a week to enjoy the work of the younger generations. She was there on Thanksgiving, treated like a queen. And rightly so.
Howard says that his hard-working wife Renee is the guiding light. Their sons Rasheed and Hakiem cook. Daughter Narobia is a waitress. Along with other family and friends.
Renee created the slogan that is on all their shirts. “Laugh, Smile, and Live.”
She says: “We want people to feel relaxed and happy eating here with us.”
It was definitely the vibe on Thanksgiving. Good smells and good cheer. It looked like the floor of the stock exchange. But with the trading in gravy futures.
And the crowd felt like a big extended family. Single guys ate with their friends on the hoods of their cars. Kids played on the deck out back while their parents waited inside.
Lorenzo Hudson sat in the sunshine crocheting knit caps. He remembered Bill’s Confectionary.
The Spence family from Vermont was out for a morning walk when they came across the celebration. They tried their four meals right away.
High-school senior Iris said: “It’s destiny. We never had grits before. I love the sausage gravy. I’m going to call my theme next week ‘The Joy of Grits.’”
Irene Fernandez and her son Michael were on their bicycles and were picking up orders to take to elderly and needy folks in their parish at Sacred Heart. “This is a blessing. For some people, this will be their only hot meal today.”
It’s great to see that my grandfather’s karma is still in the space. He was known for his generosity in giving neighborhood kids a free Tootsie Roll, BB Bat, Mary Jane, or Bazooka Joe.
He believed in a virtuous cycle of kindness begetting kindness. He loved breakfast and “breaking bread” with friends. All parts of the equation that tell me he was there with the Reids Thanksgiving morning, “breaking eggs.”
Laughing, smiling and living.
Ben Goggins, a retired marine biologist, lives on Tybee Island. He can be reached at 786-6181 or bengoggins9@gmail.com.