From the newly retired owner of Sandy's Stuff!

As many of you know, the store officially closed on Tuesday, December 30th.

What a wild ride it has been - 11 fun-filled years. I have met so many wonderful people as a result of the business. Many of these people will remain friends, several in particular will remain best friends.

Once more, I want to thank all of my customers, consignors, those who donated clothing not wanting any of the profits for themselves and those who helped me grow my business in other ways. I couldn't have done it without them all.

Those who know me well know that I'm a pack rat . . . er, I mean I'm a collector of anything and everything. So I don't consider last Wednesday as my first full day of retirement. Because on Wednesday, Thursday (New Years Day), Friday, and Saturday, my husband and I spent approximately 32 hours each cleaning out the store - throwing stuff away, sorting what I wanted to keep, donating hundreds of items to a non-profit for distribution to shelters (more on that in my next blog), renting a truck and storage facility, transporting items (a HUGE thank you to Scott Lederman and Paul & Angie Pirwitz for their help) into storage, and then a final cleaning of the 3500 sq. feet.

We closed the doors for the last time last night (Saturday, Jan. 3) at 8:00 and for the first time since I announced my retirement in late July, I was overwhelmed with emotion. And it was neither sadness nor elation; it was more like a huge part of my life was coming to an end and I realized it was a turning-point moment.

A very special thing happened on my last day. About 15 minutes before closing for the last time, I looked up and was both surprised and delighted to see good friends approaching the store with a dozen roses and a bottle of champagne. Thanks to Debby, Ellen and Cathy - you're the best!