x
Breaking News
More () »

Walland couple opens diner to honor late son

The Snoring Bear Diner has an interesting story behind the name.

Walland — After losing nearly everything, a couple moved from Michigan to open their dream diner in Walland.

They say the reward was worth the risk.

"We did not know we were going to take off like we did," co-owner Kim Watkins said. "My husband gets here at five o'clock in the morning. We leave at 10 o'clock at night."

Kim and Glen Watkins followed their dreams.

"These local people just embraced us, and it's been awesome," Kim Watkins said. "We do breakfast all day, and then we have our gourmet burgers."

They opened a diner on Highway 321 in Walland.

But dreaming big usually comes with a risk and a reason.

"He was the love of our life," Kim Watkins said. "He was our only child. Blonde hair blue eyes, he looked like a little surfer."

8-year-old Hayden Watkins inspired it all.

"He passed away a week before his ninth birthday," Kim Watkins said. "And, probably the hardest thing we'll ever have to go through in our lives."

Hayden suffered from Adrenoleukodystrophy.

It's a rare, hereditary disease that destroys a crucial part of the brain.

Multiple bone marrow transplants weren't enough.

He died in February of 2015.

"The very last thing that he had said to us in the hospital before he went into a two-month coma," Kim Watkins said. "I was snoring, sleep on the couch in his hospital room, and my husband got up and went over there to see what was going on. And he was like, 'Daddy, we're going to catch that bear someday.'"

So the diner was born.

"So when we found this place--instantly, we looked at each other and said, oh my gosh, Snoring Bear Diner," Kim Watkins said.

Giving life to a dream that remembers a life lost too soon.

The Watkins are planning to open a charity that helps parents pay bills after their kids pass away.

Kim says she hopes that will start in the next few weeks.

Before You Leave, Check This Out