Striplings General Store,"you never sau-sage a place"

...as another birthday "looms" over me, I've found myself seeking connections to my past...due to my generational position, I am out of synch with my past...my dad was the 21st child of 22...his father was born in 1858...my maternal great grandmother was born in 1862, I actually knew her but my paternal grandfather was dead 15 years before my birth...so of the family I KNOW of, my brother, his family my cousin and I are pretty much it.... my maternal great grandfathers' name was Moses Striplin, born in Georgia in 1859...the oral tradition was that the Striplins who stayed in Georgia spelled their name Stripling...one day, while watching Paula Deen's cooking show on Foodnetwork,she visited her friend Skeeter at Striplings General Store in Georgia...he looked so much like my Great Grandad,Moses, that I emailed them to see if I was related to Skeeter... of course, Skeeter is not a Stripling, he's just worked there forever,but there was something about finding this store online that felt like home...they called me in response to my email and were very nice....maybe someday , I'll try to make the connection with the remnants of my family, but for now, I'm feeling very comforted by the country ham,smoked sausage,jams and pancake mix I bought online, so if you see me in my red Striplings tee shirt, you'll know the "rest of the story..."