I’ve been mopey about another bookstore closing. I thought of Wesley Jones of Jones Shoe Shop in Starkville. I thought about what he said when he closed shop, the shop that two generations had operated, the one that glued my heels back on and dyed my flats pink. He said, “If a shoe shop closes another one won’t open.”
It would seem depressingly so for bookstores. Days before New Life Christian Supplies announced they were closing forever; Sam and I were in the store. Undecided about what I wanted for Christmas, I saw an advertisement for an ESV Study Bible. I texted my friend Barbara, “What’s the best study Bible?”
“ESV,” she answered.
Every year the Bible is the number one bestselling book and though we have a dozen in the house, I thought a study Bible would be a good thing. I could intensify my studying during the quiet hours of winter.
At the store I opened each box and ran my hand over the book’s smooth cover, it felt like butter. The color was “mahogany” and the design “trellis,” and the print LARGE. It was beautiful.
At the checkout the clerk offered to imprint my name on the front. I answered, “Later maybe,” then she said, “It will take just a few minutes.”
I smiled and giggled. My name on the Bible; I loved it. Standing next to me a middle-aged black gentleman got a Bible with his name on it; he giggled too.
Days later the closing announcement appeared in my junk email. I sulked for a while then forwarded it to interested friends. The next day Sam and I headed to the “Going out of business sale.”
Cheri Smith, the bookstore owner, greeted us. We hugged and lamented her closing. We talked about our shared history. She confessed, “If we had local support we would not have closed.”
It’s a sign of the times with all these electronic gadgets and Internet deals saving maybe two dollars, OK maybe more, but who will you hug? Or talk to? Will they wrap your Bible and imprint it for free? Will you miss them like a best friend when they close? Will you share any history? Will you giggle with another shopper? Will anybody ever recognize you?
When asked where the closest Christian bookstore was Cheri replied Tupelo or Tuscaloosa.
I remember when Starkville’s two Christian bookstores closed at the same time and then there were none. I couldn’t believe the Golden Triangle couldn’t support a Christian bookstore. I still can’t.
I trailed along shelves remembering shopping for Sam’s great-niece’s Christening, the hammered silver cross for me, the $5 bargain books, the CDs, the DVDs; shopping for children’s books and Veggie Tales movies, birthday cards, flip-calendars, and encouraging bookmarks for shut- ins.
One by one I showed Sam an arm load of books. “We will have reading for a couple of years and then there’ll be none. I’m so sad.”
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