A place I remember

One the corner of Main Street and East Bryan Street was once a Grocery Store and a few small shops.  Just down the street from the grocery store and laundry mat was an old building. It set alone.  The other buildings around it had already been demolished.   It was a thrift store and it was filled with wonderful  old things.  It was called the Browse and Buy Shop.  That was a funny name I thought. I was about five years old.   I had no Idea what a “Browse” was.  I quickly learned that a Browse was something you  do, not some thing you purchase.  It was and old store.  The cash register was an old adding machine and money box for making change.  Like many down town buildings, the old store front had large windows across the front and tall brick walls on three sides.   Inside it was a long open building.  There were just a few large beams supporting the center of the ceiling.   The ceiling I remember was pressed tin panels with rust showing through.  The windows always seemed dirty.  There were displays of used items in the windows that were arranged to make you want to come inside.   We would venture over to the thrift store while the clothes were cycling at the laundry mat. Occasionally, my mother would go to.   It was run by old ladies. They would greet my mother and count the children.  I think maybe they wanted to make sure no one was left behind after my mother left the store.   I explored the store.  I remember the smell of old clothes and old leather shoes.  My mom would buy us kids old jeans and some times small items for the house.  I loved looking at all the vintage clothes and imagine the people who once owned them.  Many were sparkly and looked like they were from the 50’s and 60’s.  The old clunky church shoes were all faced neatly below the rack just waiting for a new home.  But no one seemed to want them.   I also loved rummaging through the boxes of costume jewelry.  My mother called it junk, but I saw them as treasure.  There were old broaches, old watches and old earrings.  I always wanted buy something, but I knew better than to ask.  It would always be a no.  We learned not to want too much.  Still I enjoyed just being there.  I liked looking around and I saw value in the things that other people didn’t want.  Some times it is all in how you look at things.  I try to still see things this way.  In fact I still love exploring and good garage sale,  thrift store and flea market.  And over the years I have collected lots of treasures of my own.  I still imagine who may have owned these things before me.