When my grandpa died two years ago, the barber shop that had been in our family for 50 years closed. My grandpa and my great-grandpa before him had been the town barber. In this little town of 2,000 people, the old-time barber shop was the place to gossip. Everyone knew who my grandpa was, and when we would come to visit him in the summer, he would close up shop and put a sign on his door saying, "Playing Grandpa for the week," and he would attach a picture of us, his only grandchildren, to the sign.
The barber shop is in John Day, Oregon, a 12 hour drive from Sacramento. My mom held on to the barber shop for over a year after Grandpa died, trying to find someone who could keep it a barber shop. She finally had to sell it last year. When we went to John Day a few weeks ago, we drive by the old barber shop and found it gutted and all the antique barber shop items gone. To say the least, my mom was very sad. A day or so later, we met up with my Uncle Tom, and he told us that the lady who bought the barber shop moved it a few steps around the corner and that she was displaying all the stuff from my grandpa's barber shop in the front of her hair salon!
Everything was there, from the retro chairs to the wall unit to the sign Grandpa had up. Everyone in town loved my grandpa, and seeing his barber shop as a display was like seeing my grandpa perserved.
I can't count how many times I visited him in the summer and went to his barber shop for a spin in the old chairs.
Going back to John Day without my grandpa being there was hard, but seeing Mari in those chairs I loved sitting in as a little girl was priceless. I don't know if I will ever take any other of my future children to John Day, so I cherished this time I had with Mari in "Joe's Barber Shop."
When my grandpa died two years ago, the barber shop that had been in our family for 50 years closed. My grandpa and my great-grandpa before him had been the town barber. In this little town of 2,000 people, the old-time barber shop was the place to gossip. Everyone knew who my grandpa was, and when we would come to visit him in the summer, he would close up shop and put a sign on his door saying, "Playing Grandpa for the week," and he would attach a picture of us, his only grandchildren, to the sign.
The barber shop is in John Day, Oregon, a 12 hour drive from Sacramento. My mom held on to the barber shop for over a year after Grandpa died, trying to find someone who could keep it a barber shop. She finally had to sell it last year. When we went to John Day a few weeks ago, we drive by the old barber shop and found it gutted and all the antique barber shop items gone. To say the least, my mom was very sad. A day or so later, we met up with my Uncle Tom, and he told us that the lady who bought the barber shop moved it a few steps around the corner and that she was displaying all the stuff from my grandpa's barber shop in the front of her hair salon!
Everything was there, from the retro chairs to the wall unit to the sign Grandpa had up. Everyone in town loved my grandpa, and seeing his barber shop as a display was like seeing my grandpa perserved. 
I can't count how many times I visited him in the summer and went to his barber shop for a spin in the old chairs. 
Going back to John Day without my grandpa being there was hard, but seeing Mari in those chairs I loved sitting in as a little girl was priceless. I don't know if I will ever take any other of my future children to John Day, so I cherished this time I had with Mari in "Joe's Barber Shop."
3 comments:
This is so sweet! I'm so glad they preserved the items in the salon down the street. What a neat opportunity to watch Mari spin in the same chairs you used to as a child. The photo you gave your Grandma West is precious as well. I'm sure she'll cherish it!
this makes me want to cry!! I absolutely love this. I'm so glad that lady kept all of his things. How classic. What a treasure to have those pictures of your cute Mari, who I'm sure looks a heck of a lot like you looked at that age :)
That is so touching Sarah. It sounds like you had an amazing grandpa. What fun memories to share with him. I'm glad you were able to write those memories down and share them. Thanks!
Post a Comment