With graduation approaching, proud Marietta High School mom Erica Khan Graus posted about her younger daughter finishing with perfect attendance throughout her elementary, middle and high school career.
One of her friends, who watched both of Erica’s daughters grow up, responded with much more than a “like.”
“I’ve never done anything like this, but I just felt like I had to recognize her in some way,” restaurateur Sabra Wood said.
She’s the owner of The Red Eyed Mule in Marietta and decided Avery Graus’ stellar achievement deserved to be celebrated in perpetuity. Avery can enjoy a free meal every day, for life.
“It’s just so crazy,” Avery said, a little embarrassed over the attention she’s garnered from one of her family’s regular breakfast spots.
The Red Eyed Mule, a Southern-style breakfast joint known for biscuits and gravy, burgers and country ham, is one of those restaurants that has become a nexus point for its community. Located near the Marietta Square and not far from Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, the busy restaurant serves breakfast and lunch seven days a week, but its local involvement goes deeper. The Red Eyed Mule sponsors local groups such as the Marietta High tennis team, which Avery played on for a year.
Achieving perfect attendance wasn’t easy. When Avery was in elementary school, she slipped at summer camp and badly broke her leg two weeks before the start of school. The healing process took months and she began fourth grade at West Side Elementary in a wheelchair. Wheelchair-bound for six weeks and on crutches for another month, she never missed a day.
By the time Avery made it to high school, graduating with perfect attendance became a goal not even Taylor Swift could keep her from striving for. Senior prom was the same weekend as The Eras Tour’s Atlanta stop. So many students planned to go that the prom was rescheduled from a Saturday to a Friday night. School administrators allowed seniors to clock out early to gussy up, and Avery made sure to log the hours necessary to keep her streak going.
“It took a lot of motivation because most days, I really didn’t want to get out of bed, especially my junior and senior years,” she said. “This year, it got to an (obsessive) point of, ‘I’ve gone to school every day for the past 12 years, why not make it 13?’”
She pondered taking a day to grieve when a cherished friend died in a car wreck. Instead, she attended a prayer service in memory of junior Liv Teverino and went back to class.
“I was like, do I (leave)? Or do I just sob through the rest of my classes?” Avery said. “Clearly I stayed, but it was really tough.”
Credit: Family Photo
Credit: Family Photo
Her parents, of course, beam with pride at their determined Blue Devil.
“It’s not that she never got sick,” Erica Graus said. “Avery just always got sick at the right times.”
“She’s gone through a lot,” said Avery’s dad, Mike Graus. “The loss of a friend, family turmoil, health issues... It takes a toll, but she’s found a way to navigate it.”
The Graus family, including Avery’s sister Ashton, who is home from college for the summer, dined at The Red Eye Mule the week of Marietta High’s graduation.
Ashton attends Richmond American University London. During a trip across the pond to visit her sister, Avery decided London was the place for her as well. She’ll start at the University of West London this fall, bidding a temporary farewell to her hometown and the promise of meals on the house.
“You can’t find food like this in London,” Avery mused over breakfast.
“I’m definitely going to miss it,” she said. “It reminds me of home.”
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