01/09/2014
“There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.” -F.Herbert...
You know how they say, “All good things must come to an end”? I don’t think that’s true, I just think good things morph into new things. And new things are just change. And change is good. So many song lyrics come to mind, like the Dead’s “What a long, strange, trip it’s been….” and Bowie’s “Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes” and “Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road…”, thank you Green Day.
How lucky I am that Firefly on Penn had an audience for ten years….
I’ve loved watching my customers walk in the door for the last decade and “oooooh” and “ahhhhh” over something they saw or respond to the warmth they felt that was Firefly on Penn. From the music, to the colors, the smells, the sounds, the displays, the tissue paper, everything.
I filled my shop with things I loved and I loved watching the giddiness of customers when they found just the right gift for someone special, the delight when they discovered something new. Or touched something soft, or smelled something wonderful, or read something that moved them to tears.
That has always served as a huge validation to me, because I’m the one who put those things on the shelves, who poured painstakingly over colors, and styles and how many of this versus how many of that. And when you picked it up and you loved it or you “got it” or you wanted to buy it or give it to someone you love, well that was the best feeling in the world. And I’ve had countless moments like that with my customers.
So it just seemed like at 10 years, it was the right time to wrap it up, -with some fluffed chartreuse and periwinkle tissue in a craft bag, of course. It’s our time to move to the next thing. There have been so many changes to my life in ten years. And you’ve seen them all, and helped me through them. And loved Firefly through them all. We’ve had a great run. (Funny, I say “we” because Firefly feels like it’s own entity, like it’s me and Firefly). I feel like we’re crafting our exit exactly they way we want to go, leaving on our terms. And that feels good.
I’ve made friends from behind that counter. People walked in as customers and walked out as friends. I’ve made connections with my customers, through changes in their lives, changes in mine. Sometimes I felt like a bartender, sometimes a psychologist. Sometimes a friend. I’ve cried with them, I’ve laughed with them. Given them a place to change a diaper, give their toddlers “oh my god do you have a bathroom” potty breaks, a lollipop, a sticker, a toy to play with while mommy shops.
I’ve raised my own two babies in the shop, dressing them in Firefly clothes, watching them run through the store with sticky lollipop faces and squeals of delight. Gracie once smacked her head in the big window display in front of rush hour traffic, drew on a $200 diaper bag with a pen as a toddler, lost a tooth sitting on the desk one winter Saturday. Charlie spent the first five months of her life in a sling with me working the shop, toddled her first steps there and eventually found the hiding spot for the lollipops.
And many times I’ve heard a young 20-something say with a laugh that they’ll be back when they’re “married-and-having-a-baby--ha-ha-ha-like-that-would-ever-happen” and you know what? It did happen. They came back as blushing brides and glowing pregnant women. And their friends came in and bought them those milestone gifts, cue that green and blue tissue…
I’ve ordered gifts for your weddings, for your wedding parties, and baby showers. Oh how we’ve loved being part of the baby showers! Big gifts, little gifts, a little something gift. It was such a compliment when someone would tell me they went to a baby shower and the gift table was full of Firefly bags with that green and blue tissue fluffed to the top. Thanks for making me part of those monumental moments.
I’m going on to the next thing. My mom always says this when I tell her I am overwhelmed, she says, “Just do the next thing, Becca, just the next thing.” So, I’ll use my creativity in new places and figure out what I am past the walls of my shop. “Rebecca from Firefly” has been my name for ten years.
Thank you for supporting what we’ve done for a decade. Thank you for shopping in Firefly on Penn because you knew you’d find that something special. Thank you for being part of the journey with me.
Peace and blessings, Rebecca Doubek owner of Firefly on Penn
“The story of life is quicker than the wink of an eye, the story of love is hello and goodbye...until we meet again” - Jimi Hendrix
