Bye Bye, Bookstore

Today I planned to go to our local bookstore so I could look for a gift. In addition to books (which are great gifts in themselves), they have a lot of cute cards and other little gift items. I asked Husband to go with me, and then he said the words that almost froze my heart, “Isn’t that store closing?” WHAT? How could the bookstore close? It’s the only bookstore in town. And it’s my favorite place to browse around when I have some extra time. We decided to go anyway. I hoped that Husband was mistaken about the closing, or at least I hoped the store might stay open a while longer. We arrived at the storefront, where we saw a small hand-written sign posted to the window that said: “store closed and will not reopen.” We actually didn’t need the sign to tell us. The dark interior and the vast nothingness inside (not even a single book or shelf in sight!) were enough of a clue. I stared at the windows of the storefront in disbelief, muttering “I can’t believe it closed! How can it close?” And I lamented that I missed the only consolation prize, which would have been shopping at the going-out-of-business sale, if they even had one. Husband put his arms around my shoulders and gently escorted me away from the store. He added an encouraging, “You can still buy books online.” Ironically, as I was just typing this post, Husband walked in the office and said, “What’s with the sad face? It looks like you’re writing an obituary.” He’s right, in a way. Rest in Peace, little Bookstore.