Charlie Daniels’ son, Charlie Daniels, Jr., recently shared a touching way an Olive Garden in their hometown honored his father. In a new blog post, shared on the Charlie Daniels Band’s website, the only child of Charlie and his wife, Hazel, recalled the sweet moment that made him burst into tears.
“I’ve been dreading writing this soapbox because it’s the culmination of an awful, emotional, beautiful, powerful, touching, tearful and exhausting week which has left me with a need for comfort food that I need to move on from, and quickly,” Daniels, Jr. began. “As I mentioned, in the previous soapbox, Thursday was a public viewing at the funeral home, so mom and I did not attend. I do have one powerful moment to share from Thursday. I picked up dear friends at the airport that night, and we needed to stop to get supplies and then we ordered food from Olive Garden in Mt. Juliet.”
“We pulled up in one of the carryout spots, and a young lady came up to the truck and asked if I had an order, and then it dawned on me that I was driving dad’s pickup instead of my car, and I put down the wrong vehicle when I placed the order from the Olive Garden app on my phone,” he continued. “I apologized and told her that I was in my father’s truck, and I instinctively put down my car instead and that the order was under ‘Daniels.’ A few minutes later, she handed me our food and said, “We didn’t charge your card, and we are so sorry for your loss.”
“I lost it,” he concluded. “It was the unexpected kindness of strangers to a grieving family that did it. We were all in tears, including the sweet young lady who brought us our order.”
Daniels, Jr. admits there have been many moments that have left him in tears in the month since his father has been gone.
“There has been so much love for this man that mom and I loved so much. It’s truly overwhelming sometimes,” Daniels, Jr. said. “It was a horrible week, but the hardest part started after that, with mom and I trying to adjust to life without our rock being there. Trying to get back to ‘normal,’ as if there is such a thing now. As I’ve said before, thank you for all the prayers, they are crucial for us.”
A tribute concert, 2021 Volunteer Jam: A Musical Salute to Charlie Daniels, will be held on February 22. Alabama, Ricky Skaggs, Old Crow Medicine Show, Junior Brown and Cece Winans have been added the list of performers, which already included The Marshall Tucker Band, Chris Janson, Charley Pride, Larry, Steve & Rudy: The Gatlin Brothers, Big & Rich, Gretchen Wilson, Cowboy Troy, Delbert McClinton, Keb’ Mo’, The Outlaws, .38 Special, The Allman Betts Band, , Travis Denning, Rhett Akins, Scooter Brown Band, and more.