We are blessed with customers who like to thank us. Sometimes, we get notes in the mail saying how much a book has touched a customer, or folks stop me in the market to say thanks. I love all of this. It reminds me why I work at an indie bookstore.
This past week we had two people thank us with food. The first was a woman whose daughter was finishing her internship at the Shelburne Museum. Denise had been telling her mom about the store since May when she first came in. We connected easily over books and she was very excited about our event with Judith Jones. And so was her mother, who planned a trip to visit from Virginia the weekend of the event.
This past weekend Denise and her mom (who was back to help Denise move back home) came into the store to say goodbye. But also, Denise’s mom had to share something with me. She wiped back a tear as she told me how much meeting Judith Jones meant to her and how moving she found the event. Honestly, that was more than enough to make my day, but then she said she had a little something for us. She made us a pound of homemade toffee candy with nuts and chocolate. The staff was in heaven. For her to have gone to the trouble to make toffee was as moving as it was delicious.
Then another customer came in with a note and gift. She practically fled as she handed it to me. I opened it to find a container of candy corn and a lovely note. We had sold books at the David Sedaris event earlier in the month when he came to Burlington. Part of our contract was having a raffle for four front-row seats. Debbie had won a pair. In her note she said how necessary it was to just laugh and how intense it was to have David Sedaris “right there in front of me.” I’m not sure what was going in her life, but I got the sense the Sedaris event made it all better for a little while.
These two women reminded me of the power of bookstore events. Events create richness;  people can meet lifelong heroes, spend an evening forgetting what’s troubling them, or just spend a spirited night discussing books. And if folks want to thank me with some candy, well, that’s just a sweet bonus.