A restaurant advertising free oysters for 80-year-olds and their dads found a taker : NPR

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

If you ever visit Wintzell’s Oyster House in Mobile, Alabama, you will see a sign on the wall that says: Free oysters to any 80-year-old with his father. Well, this week Jim Rush Jr. celebrated his 80th birthday and decided to take the restaurant up on his offer. He brought his 99-year-old father, Jim Sr., for a birthday party. They shucked free oysters.

(SOUNDBITE OF SHELLED OYSTERS)

SIMON: When we asked for an interview, they agreed, but on the condition that they could return to the Oyster House in Wintzell. Our friend and colleague Debbie Elliott, NPR’s national correspondent, just couldn’t pass up this assignment. She joins us from the restaurant.

DEBBIE ELLIOTT, BYLINE: Oh, happy to help, Scott. Any time I can find myself at a favorite oyster restaurant, I volunteer.

SIMON: So what are you taking?

ELLIOTT: So I haven’t eaten anything yet, but I’m going to order a dozen raw, and I’ll have some cocktail sauce with it, extra horseradish.

SIMON: Could we meet Jim Rush Sr. and Jim Rush Jr.?

ELLIOTT: Of course. I’ll let you first say hello to Jim Rush Sr.

JIM RUSH SR: Hello.

SIMON: It’s good to hear from you, sir. So you like oysters?

JIM RUSH SR: Oh, absolutely. I started this whole thing with oysters 80 years ago – maybe 90 years of eating oysters.

SIMON: Wow.

JIM RUSH SR: My dad, we used to walk here going into town, and my dad used to stop here, and we ate oysters here a long time ago, when they first opened. So I guess I was one of the first…

SIMON: Wow.

JIM RUSH SR: …In this place.

SIMON: Do you put anything on your oysters? How do you like them?

JIM RUSH SR: Oh, I like them raw, cooked, okra, fried, oyster stew. I love oysters anywhere except in the shell.

SIMON: You’re 99 years old, aren’t you, Mr. Rush?

JIM RUSH SR: Yes, sir. I am 99 years old.

SIMON: What is the key to a good life?

JIM RUSH SR: I don’t know. I ate a lot of oysters, that’s the only thing I can say.

SIMON: (Laughter).

JIM RUSH JR: Jack Daniels.

ELLIOTT: That was Jimmy Jr. adding the Jack Daniels, Scott.

SIMON: Hello, Mr. Rush Jr. Happy birthday.

JIM RUSH JR: Thank you.

SIMON: I guess you and your brother first spotted the sign a long time ago.

JIM RUSH JR: Yes, a few decades ago (laughs).

SIMON: Is that what keeps you going year after year, the idea that one day you’ll have free oysters?

JIM RUSH Jr: Yeah. We talk about it every time we come here, and we sit at the bar and look at the sign and say, we’re going to make it (laughs). And we did it.

JIM RUSH SR: Yes. I still have one more thing to do. I have another son.

SIMON: It’s Carl, right? – who will be 80 years old?

JIM RUSH SR: Yes, sir. It’s Carl.

SIMON: So, Jimmy Rush Jr., what have you learned about life from your father over the years?

JIM RUSH JR: I learned to live hard (laughs). But he taught me a lot: fishing for shrimp, oysters, crab. We always had seafood on our table.

SIMON: I have to ask, Carl and Jimmy Rush Jr., do you know what a blessing it is to have your father in your life at this age?

JIM RUSH JR: Yes, sir. I do.

CARL RUSH: Absolutely. We are a very lucky family.

JIM RUSH Jr: Yeah. I am his caregiver now. It’s a journey. He walks 4 or 5 miles a day.

SIMON: God bless you.

JIM RUSH SR: I’m walking right now. I’ve already walked almost 3 miles this morning.

SIMON: I’m lucky to be able to do that in a month.

JIM RUSH SR: I move around very well, but I can’t see much. And I’m exactly the same weight as I was almost 30 years ago. I still have the same weight.

SIMON: That’s great. And oysters, I mean, unless you make them fried – but I mean, it sounds like you like them raw and salty, right?

JIM RUSH SR: Yeah. I think oysters have a lot to do with it because I’ve eaten them my whole life.

SIMON: Your family has convinced me, the key to a happy life – I’m going to get a little emotional now – is a happy family.

JIM RUSH JR: Yes. It is. We all get along well and I very rarely have any problems.

JIM RUSH SR: My daughter is also here with us. They only had three children, and they are all here with me now.

DOROTHY RUSH: My name is Dorothy.

ELLIOTT: Hey, Dorothy.

Dr. RUSH: Nice to meet you.

ELLIOTT: Nice to meet you.

D RUSH: I eat oysters too (laughs). I have been all my life (laughs).

SIMON: Hi, Dorothy. How are you doing?

Dr. RUSH: I’m happy to be here.

JIM RUSH JR: Dottie (ph) will be 70, so I hope Dad will be there, but it’s a long way off.

(LAUGH)

SIMON: You know, I wouldn’t bet against you.

JIM RUSH JR: Well, I wouldn’t either.

D RUSH: I’m counting on it. What will you only be? – 110 (laughs).

SIMON: Yeah. It’s nothing. This is the Rush family, Jim Sr., Jim Jr., Carl and Dorothy. Thank you very much for joining us. May you enjoy all the oysters.

JIM RUSH JR: Thank you.

C RUSH: Thank you, sir.

JIM RUSH SR: Oh, yes. Thank you so much.

(SOUNDBITE OF 1 YOUNG MICAH AND 3 MILL ROD SONG, “BOOKS OF WAR”)

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