Chestnuts by an open fire

Or at least the charcoal grill. As part of the holiday traditions, we would always provide roasted chestnuts to all who walked by in front of the store. Be it 70 degrees or 7. It was fun watching the reaction of all those who partook. For some, it brought back memories of a trip to New York. For others, it was of childhood. Then there were the newbies, the ones who had never had one. Some thought roasted chestnuts were just an urban legend. Others thought we were crazy to do it. It just went to show the variety of people we had.

Trees, boots, they're the same, right?

It was one of those nights. During one of the winters we were in the large store, our second location, Mom brought our dog, Professor, a Bichon Frise, to the store when we closed for the evening. Some of our friends from the cleaners next door came over to celebrate the end of the week. Mom was wearing her nice, brown leather boots when he decided they looked like saplings. I'm sure you can guess what came next.

The Bookcase

It started out simple enough, "Let's take a bike ride to the lake" Dad suggested one late summer afternoon.

Little did we know what lay ahead. We rode the couple of miles to the lake and stopped in the bookstore at the plaza like we always did.

On the way home, Dad asked, "How would you like to help run the bookstore?"

"I'm still too young to work, Dad."

"Not if it's a family business," he replied.

And so it began. Thirteen years fun-filled year. Well, mostly fun-filled. As with all family businesses, there were definite ups and downs.

Watch for more.