the end.

just like a good book, turning the last page often comes all too quickly for other aspects of our lives. a most beloved book store, the bookstop, has closed its doors for good. while i would argue that the retro theater-turned-charming bookstore still had many pages to be written, upper management disagrees. it has been closed to shift business to the shiny, new barnes & noble down the street.

when i realized that it was really, really closing i took a walk over to the bookstop hoping to catch one last glimpse of a memory that i hold near my heart. line after line of cascading book cases filled with millions of stories; old favorites & new adventures were always a comforting greeting as i entered the store. as i slowly strolled around the block from my house i thought of the memories that would forever be locked inside this beautiful building.
it will always remind me of visiting my grandparent's house, as my mom would make a stop in the middle of the 3-hour drive from sour lake to el campo to treat us each to a book of our choice. it was always a hard decision: amelia bedelia or mr. popper's penguins? the silver slippers or the secret garden? the baby-sitters club or sideways stories from wayside high?

and now, as i look over at my overflowing shelf of books--i cannot help but attribute my insatiable need for simple black ink on paper that transforms words into sentences into paragraphs into stories...to these little trips when i was a child.

i was fortunate enough to live around the corner from this cozy treasure for the past few years, and it's safe to say that i will dearly miss my old friend.
here's to you, bookstop.

the end.



c.

p.s. i think that i will drown my sorrows with a night of beer & bingo. wish me luck!