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How a community has rallied around Tacoma's Old Milwaukee Cafe

Neighborhood restaurants do more than feed us; they provide a sense of community.

TACOMA, Wash. — Before the sun rose on this March morning, half a dozen people lined up outside Old Milwaukee Cafe on Tacoma's Sixth Avenue. They wanted to be among the first to order breakfast when Chad and Pat Kerth finally reopened their doors after nine months of being closed.

"It was a bit emotional," Pat Kerth says after a morning filled with laughter and hugs. "Just being back into the swing of things and seeing people I haven't seen for a while, it was special.

For more than twenty years the Kerths have run this twenty-seat mom and pop diner, serving up some of Tacoma's most generous portions.

"They are really good people, "says Christy Coyne," and it comes out in their food, how much they care about the community and us individually."

The Kerths had been constantly donating food items to fund-raisers. Then last year Chad Kerth dropped a 50-pound bag of potatoes on his foot. The injury got infected and he wound up in the hospital battling for his life.

"The doctor said he had to look really bad to get better," says Pat Kerth, who spent day after day with her husband at the hospital.

For months the restaurant was closed. But it was hardly forgotten. Customers started a Go-Fund-Me page and decorated the cafe windows with dozens of paper hearts decorated with messages of support. When Pat Kerth came home from the hospital and saw them for the first time she broke down in tears.

"I am a giver," she explains. "And then all of a sudden to have it come back on to us is totally amazing."

That March morning, after months of rehabilitation, Chad Kerth was back in the kitchen and Pat Kerth was serving up cups of coffee.

"It's good to see them," says Marti Curtis, a regular. "Just see that Chad is doing better and to be here among friends is great because everybody here knows each other."

It seemed like a happy ending, but five days after opening back up, new rules shuttered restaurants all across Washington State. With Chad's recent health scare, the Kerths don't want to offer to take out. 

"We just want to take that precaution and make sure that we are careful to not get sick again," says Pat Kerth."I don't wanna see either of us go back into the hospital."

This is not the time for hugs or people sitting together in tight quarters, but that day will come soon and the Kerths plan to celebrate with another emotional reunion. Pat shared her plan until then:

"Just stay safe stay smart and don't panic," she laughs.

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