9/15/11 It was shuttered. I shuddered at the thought.
You know it’s coming…..but it’s still a shock. A neighborhood institution that is no more. It’s almost like a death.
Border’s Bye-Bye
Kurt in “Sound of Music” sang it well. “So long
farewell, auf Wiedersehen, goodbye. I leave and heave a sigh and say goodbye -- Goodbye!”
Borders has shuttered its doors for the last time. Sadness looms for the regulars. It’s been a part of our lives since ‘95, I think. Friday 
night dates. Saturday morning coffee (tea) klatches. Three different school library accounts. Educator’s week specials. The red Border’s Rewards card for perks.
Connections. That was the real perk. Joanne who knew my reading preferences and led me to so many books I might have missed. Gail, at check-out, who always asked about Molly and “little’ Owen. Kim’s daughter in the café, whom I never got to say good-by to because when I went for my last cup of hot tea for old times sake, both the cuppa ingredients and Kim were no where to be found. “Red,” whose name I don’t know, with his big smile and long stride, was a regular on Friday and Saturday nights. I think he walked from a near-by home. An adult with childlike ways.
Connections to be sadly missed.
Bumping into friends. Friends who knit. Storytellers. Aspiring writers. Fellow teachers from former schools. Former students. How truly sad I am.
No more smells of new books or fresh brews. No more bluegrass pickin’ sounds on Friday nights. No more children in the aisles and sitting on the platform in their area. No more seniors bumping elbows around the “bargain books” table. All this will fade away as another bookstore collapses & bites the dust. How sad!
Not only did I shudder when “they” shuttered those glass doors for the last time, I realized that my “Borders” retirement dreams had been shattered. Dreams of spending mornings there browsing the new releases, scanning the travel section and maps and enjoying a cuppa while reading magazines too esoteric for a subscription, but a pleasure just the same, 
Good-by old friend---you will certainly be missed by this household.
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