There is a glow missing at Ruston's Starbucks.

                                                                                                                                                                 That missing glow is Deena Marie Ferguson.

I have been a regular at Starbucks for over twenty years. For the last eleven years I have been a regular at the Starbucks in Ruston, Louisiana.

A wonderfully happy and pleasant part of my visits to Starbucks has been greeting Deena. Deena has been the Manager. I was told the other day that Deena will not be back.  I am sad about that. It is sad to walk into the place and know that there is not a chance that I will see Deena.

I an a 1950 Mechanical Engineer graduate from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, California. Several years ago I wore my Cal Poly alumni cap to Starbucks. Deena exclaimed  to me that her son was an engineering graduate from Cal Poly. Almost makes us family, huh?

Deena is a marathon runner. A few years ago I attended a marathon in West Monroe that she ran in.
Here is a photo of her before that race. I posted two blogs on her heroic run. The blogs are in the Prune Picker blog archives. Search for Dirty South Marathon.

I know that Deena reads my blog. "Deena. I love you and I am going to miss you. I wish you the very best".