Last weekend we had a memorial service for Barbara, one of the owners of Volumes of Pleasure Bookstore. Hundreds of people filled the little church in Los Osos. And hundreds more sent cards.

One of our regular customers organized a cookie chain. People who attended brought platters of cookies for all to share. Many of our regular customers came out to honor Barbara and comfort Carroll. Former employees came from other parts of the state.

It was a wonderful and heart felt “community” event. Yes, it was a memorial but it was also a gathering of the community and a testament to the impact that an independent store and that stores owners can have upon their community. Carroll and Barbara matter to people. What they have done to support our community has mattered. The service they have provided for over two decades has mattered.

Can we ask for much more from our lives than to have what we did with it matter? To one, to several, to our family, to our community, to the masses. However far our touch reaches, don’t we just want it to matter? In the end.

Just got me thinking.    

Go in Peace, Barbara.