On the highway of life, we have met a few people who have impacted us…here is a story I would like to share with you. A girl came in to take class her name was Barbara. She had a mane of tousled, shiny, chestnut brown hair.
Before working out, she would bend her head and put her hair in a ponytail on the top of her head….sort of like Pebbles. She came to the studio to work out. We became instant friends. I asked her what she did. And she told me she owned a children’s clothing and accessory store called Auntie Barbara’s.
Barbara invited me to see her store…and what a store! There was a handcrafted apple tree… you can remove the front of the tree where Barbara put gallons and gallons of apple juice for the kids and their parents.
The clothing was quite amazing. Some people made clothes only for Barbara’s store. People came from far and near to shop there.
We shared hundreds of lunches and dinners together. Sometimes we would get in the car and drive around…when we saw someone getting into their car we would stop and say…”Excuse me, you dropped something.” A few people would bend down and look under their car and a few would get on their hands and knees to look for whatever they thought they dropped. We would always break out in laughter when they did this. The truth is they didn’t drop anything.
When I was invited anywhere, I asked Barbara to go…it was kismet. We would get up at 4am and drive downtown to the LA flower mart. You can’t believe how many flowers you can buy for $30.00.
Sadly, over the years, our lives took different paths. I think about her every day. Barbara still has her store. I am so very proud of her. Remember no one and I mean…no one can take your memories away.
Love,
Richard
