This store sells (or sold) a variety of groceries. Some were overstock items from, well, for the most part, I'm not really sure where. Some items would have labels from mystery stores - stores that were, presumably, outside of our area.
Often, we would find items a manufacturer had discontinued - sometimes for good reason, sometimes not. But you might never know the reasons why they were discontinued - unless you were willing to roll the dice.
In the instances where we were intrigued enough to try something new, it was often a mixed blessing. We either hated it, which was almost a relief, or we liked it. The problem with trying something new and liking it was that there was a better chance than not that we would never find that item again. Every visit thereafter would involve searching for our now nonexistent white whale.
But the thing is, most of the time - by far, I don't think Sam and I (or his brother or his sisters, for that matter) ever went there because we needed anything special. We went there because it was an excuse to "run errands", an excuse to get out of the house, and an excuse to spend some time together.
We would go and rummage around, maybe find something interesting, maybe not. But all the while, we would be making small talk - sometimes about what we were finding, often about other things going on in life. As with most places, where we happened to be was beside the point.
On this final visit, Sam and I searched around together on the now-sparse shelves, searching for mementos - last minute souvenirs of things we really didn't need.
We talked about some of our past visits, and about some of our memories here. We talked about being sad to see the place closing. We talked about how we liked this place and how we'll miss it.
And it's odd because, like so many places, it holds an out-sized emotional attachment for us - even though, in the end, it's only a store.
1 comment:
This is so sad.
These photos are incredible and heartbreaking.
Love you <3
Post a Comment