The End of an Era

Sigh. Sob. Reminisce.

After almost a decade of loving work, care,

and enjoyment, Poet's Garden is closing its gates.

Today is the final day the gardens and shop

will be open to the general public.

So much planning, dreaming, scheming, working,

and creative investing went into this venture.

It started with Shannon and me,

putting our collective dreams and hopes into a basket.

Shannon is the entrepreneur of the family.

I'm the dreamer of the family.

Dad was on board. He loves dreams.

Mom was a bit of a tougher sell, but she signed on.

Holly had a three-year-old and a one-year-old.

She volunteered to be the cheering section.

The husbands signed on by default when they

married into the family.

The poor guys worked their tails off

to build our shops.

The buildings in progress, we headed to the Seattle gift show.
And never looked back.

Shannon, Mom, and I made a terrific team. Not everyone can work with their family and remain friends. We grew inseparable. Holly joined us as often as possible.

Our dream wouldn't have been complete without the epitome (to us) of success. A feature in Victoria magazine. After a decade of inspiration through its pages, we gave inspiration to others.

Along came boy #1. I worked as often as I could with Levi. And along came boy #2. I was doing well to shower in the morning. And along came boy #3. They asked me to stay home. Grin.

And so, Mom and Shan have manned (womanned?) the store on their own the last few years while I watched from the sidelines.

The boys have had an amazing opportunity to be 'home' among a family business. They've chatted with the customers. They've enjoyed the gardens. They've loved visiting Bambi and Aunt Shan during business hours.

And now when they visit, it will still be Poet's Garden, but it will be our Poet's Garden. We will be transforming the shops into living and creative spaces. You never know....you just might catch a glimpse here at Mt. Hope or at Poet's Garden Girl.

Farewell, friends!