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Born to Write 
   
 
 
 
 

An Ode to Dairy Queen

Everyone knows what it's like to return to their hometown and find that things have changed, but consider my husband's experience. He grew up in Naples, Florida. In 1962, there were 800 year-round residents. Many of the roads were not even paved. Today there are 325,000 people living in Collier County. My husband can't even find his way around. In Naples, he recognizes the fishing pier, a restaurant called Kelly's Fish House, and the Dairy Queen. Lately we've heard that even the old Dairy Queen, with its distinctive roof, may be facing an end. If so, I suppose few will mourn it, but my husband, no doubt, will be among them. It was THE place for teenagers to go in an isolated little Gulf Coast town that felt like it was at the end of the world.