Ardent Plead

A monsoon blew in yesterday, and it was wonderful and glorious.

My husband came home after the storm, and it was perfect walking weather. As the sun went down, we walked the streets of our little town.
The Wash was running. If you’re from around here, you know how exciting that is:

Who wants to bet that it’s completely dry this morning?

FOR YEARS, our walking destination was Speedy’s. My mom gave me the news last week that Speedy’s was closing it’s doors… FOR-EH-VER.
The news made me a little emotional. No Speedy’s? Ever? I misunderstood and thought Speedy’s last day was Thursday (yesterday), but it was actually Tuesday. I was going to go for the last time on Wednesday and take some pictures, but I didn’t get the chance.
I didn’t get to say goodbye.

Speedy’s used to be Thriftway, and I always ALWAYS went there with my brothers and my Dad and my mom and my best friend, Tia. It was always there. It always had candy. I would clean the shop’s bathroom, Dad would give me 50 cents, and I’d run across the street for a candy bar.
Remember when they were 50 cents?

They used to sell those fake candy (gum?) cigarettes that we’d take and play with behind the shop until Dad found out and let us know that cigarettes of ANY kind weren’t a good idea.
We thought he didn’t know anything… then we all turned 20 and realized that it’s possible that Dad might know more than any other human being on earth.

He. Knows. It. All.

He used to take us across the street (from the shop) and let us pick out treats. After a long day on the farm, we always got to pick a drink and a dessert pie.
How many summer afternoons did I ride my bike to the store to buy a Sprite -just to open the cap to see if I had won a free one. I wonder how many Sprites we all went through that summer…

During my first year as a mother, their movie rental collection saved me from losing my mind. I would put a movie on, put the subtitles on, and then watch a movie while my brand new infant screamed in my ear for hours on end. I could easily rent two or three movies a day and return the very next day for two or three more.

When I was pregnant, a bought a Speedy’s burger for lunch.
When I had two kids, I could plop them down in the red benches for a hot dog lunch.
When we all got a hankering, we’d walk to Speedy’s for ice cream sandwiches.

And now?

Walking in the parking lot and seeing boarded up windows was like a huge punch in the heart. It was awful and I nearly started crying.
If you think I’m crazy -If you think I’m being too emotional… just ask someone else in town about it! We’re all in a state of shock. and uproar. and shock.
After my mom delivered the news, I sort blinked back at her and then I asked -much like little children often do to their mothers…
“What are we supposed to do now?!”

Speedy’s has been on the market for a couple of years, and the owners just got tired of keeping it up.

So I was thinking YOU could buy it…

You could live in the best town ever -really get to know everyone…

And you’d be everyone’s favorite.

Just promise me you’ll THINK about it…

I snapped a picture of my daughter after I told her Speedy’s was closed forever.
“No more treats with my grandpa?” she asked.

Then she said, “But… but I just still want dog doo doo!”
And then I laughed. Laughing while your kid is crying can really make you feel like a jerk.