There is something to be said for continuity. Sameness. Our little independent bookstore hasn’t changed much over the years. We moved a few cases around. Changed lines of gift items and of course books we carry. Although we have many titles that we have carried for decades and continue to reorder.

A few years ago I took a trip to Baker, Oregon, a small town where I spent my earliest years. I was so delighted to see the little corner market was still there, still called Kennedy’s Market. I stepped inside and looked around at an inside that looked very different from what I had remembered. I was nine when we moved away. I started a conversation with the man behind the counter.

“I used to live across the street. I would come in here almost every day.”

“When?”

“Early 60’s”

“My dad owned the store in the early 60’s.”

A very strong memory hit me. “Did you work here then?”

“Yep.”

“Were you in your late teens, early 20’s maybe?”

“Yes.”

“You were my first crush. You got engaged.”

He nodded, a bit wide eyed.

“That broke my heart.”

“Really?”

We laughed. I wondered if he went home and told his wife a woman who had a crush on him when she was nine years old stepped into the store that day.

I hear people lament the loss of independent stores all the time. As well as bars where they used to gather to jam with fellow musicians and restaurants where they got the best milkshake. I know some of it is pure, good ol’ nostalgia for ones younger years. Some of it is lamenting what was unique to one’s past. Some of it is recognizing the value of something that is one of a kind.