The Beginning of The End...

I've been a less than prolific writer this year. Sooo much going on, which I'll come back and write about later. Right now, our main attraction and focus is the closure of our beloved store. We opened up in 2004, after John retired from Wally World. It's been a bumpy ride for sure, full of ups and downs and stories galore. It's a business decision, but one that breaks our hearts.

For us, it's a loss. A loss of relationships, business and income, identity and the loss of a dream. It's hard. But we're both ready to move on. Sigh...I've been trotting down memory lane, looking at photos of when our dream began, the building of the store, the kids who used to work for us.

They made it fun for us. We employed alot of kids, most of whom were high school or college students. They worked so hard, and I'm proud to say we helped them reach their educational and career goals. They worked hard, but they played hard too. Volleypong anyone? Don't ask, it's a complicated game, and many pairs of sunglasses lost their lives. Our kids have pursued degrees and careers as a nurse, a counselor, a retail manager, a public relations manager, a coach, a theatre teacher, a photographer, and that's just the one's I can remember!

Here's a few more photos from the build out of our store. This first one was the day our sign went up. We were so excited! It had rained and rained and rained. Every thing was delayed, and we thought this day would never come! It was so wonderful to see that sign, because it meant we were almost ready!

That's John, hard at work before we moved into the building. We were so stinking proud! Literally stinking. It was hard, sweaty work! Oh, and did we ever tell you about the time the roof leaked and completely soaked the carpet before we moved in? Yeah, that was awesome.

John and Greg, hanging out at the store. I'm proud of the fact that our kids took as much pride in the store as we did. It was their's too!

That's John, Amanda and Hogan checking out customers. John always called Hogan "The Machine" because she was quick and methodical at the registers. She could sling weights and arrange counters as well or better than any of the guys we had working.

Hogan with our daughter, Amanda. Both of these girls could WORK! So proud of the young ladies they've become. I promise you, every time one of our employees left us for greener pastures, I cried. Every. Single. Time.

That's Kendal and Pugh. Little Pugh. We had Big Pugh when we first opened. (He's one of the one's I cried over) So several year later we hired his little brother. We called them the newbies when they stared and it kind of stuck. They've brought us many hours of laughter! Many. Kendal is one of the finest young photographers in Texarkana. I know she'll go far. Pugh's going to Alabama...we wish him well. John Mark works for us too. He's sneaky though, and I don't have a picture of him right now. I'll try and add one later!