The New Leaf Adopted Grandparents

Kevin / New Leafers / 1 Comment

Jimmie and Shirley McLawhorn first visited New Leaf at our old location just a few weeks after we opened in 2009.

From the first time I met them, I knew it would be a special relationship.

The McLawhorns, along with Carol Gregg (affectionately known as CiCi), began to visit on a regular basis and we began to tell stories, share concerns and laugh together.

Over the past few years the McLawhorns have become part of the family here.  If you come in frequently in the mid-afternoon during the week, you will probably run into Jimmie and Shirley within a few visits.  They will have just finished eating lunch at one of their favorite local spots and they’ll most definitley be ready to engage you in a conversation that will last until you drag yourself away a half hour later.

We have adopted Jimmie and Shirley as the offical New Leaf grandparents!

About once a month or so I’ll pry myself away from the store to go sit with them at a chinese buffet.  When Nathan and I are out delivering furniture in their neighborhood, we always build in a few minutes to stop, knock on their door and check out the new treasures they found at last weeks estate sale.

The first item I remember the McLawhorns purchasing in 2009 was a gorgeous piece of American brilliant cut glass.  I did not know what brilliant cut glass was at the time, but I knew this piece was beautiful.  Jimmie knew what it was and got a great deal on it in those early days before I navigated the learning curve of glassware.  Since then, I have picked on him about how he stole that piece of glass from me in my ignorance.

Jimmie and Shirley often go to Florida to take care of the business affairs of their old home place.  This week they returned and we were so thrilled when they walked in the door at the store– it was like a family reunion!  Jimmie kept telling me during their 45 minute visit that he had a gift for me in his car.  When we began to wrap up our visit, Shirley walked me to the parking lot and reached in to pull out a bag with bubble wrap inside.  I looked in and pulled out my newest treasure… a gorgeous American brilliant cut glass bowl!  The same one Jimmie “stole” from me three years earlier.

Jimmie looked at me and said with the authority of yesteryears grandpa,

“Now, I better not see that thing for sale in the store.  If I do I’ll take it back!”

I love the people that we have met in the past three years and our lives will be forever changed because they walked through the front door with a smile on their face and a story to tell.

I’m going to keep my glass at the store for a few days, so you can stop by and see it in person.  Then it’s going to it’s new home in my china cabinet right next to the amazing cut glass punch bowl that was the last gift from my adopted grandparents.

See You Next Time…

Kevin