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Show Thoughts From The Garden... by Tonya LeMone "If nothing changes, nothing changes! Think about it! " - Anonymous Change is a peculiar thing. Often it is regarded as being quite negative, but as I have researched the reasons and effects of change, it has started to change my thinking about change. If we don't change, we don't progress... or so the world says. But. then I think back on some changes taking place and find myself quite content without change. For me the only changes I like are to change my sheets or to change a piece of furniture in our house or change a shrub or garden in some little way, but the changes 1 am seeing lately are really hard for me. The changes in the economy, the changes in the integrity of men of importance, even the changes in the weather are somewhat concerning to me. Recently a major change for me was the closing of the little Smith's Market in downtown Pleasant Grove. I didn't frequent the store on a weekly basis but did frequent it on a monthly basis to purchase my meat. I cannot find another meat market to compare with the personal attention or the quality of the meat that little market gave to all that came in. I still remember its unique smell when I would walk through the doors. It wasn't a negative thing. It was very positive because it took me back to our little neighborhood market in Oregon that never changed, never needed to and no one wanted it to change. We were all happy to have it just the way it was. When we first moved to our new neighborhood in Oregon, Eastmoreland, it was our first family home. It was a beautiful tudor style home with one bathroom and three bedrooms but it was in a neighborhood that had a school and a church at the center of its streets. We knew this neighborhood had values when they so designed this neighborhood to make the church and the school the very center of their lives, not only in thought, but physically the center of their lives. The streets of our new neighborhood were all tree-lined with sidewalks and in the summer, the trees would grow together touching to form i tunnel to walk and drive under. This was a walking neighborhood. Every evening people of all ages would walk with their children or walk their dogs or just stroll on a warm summer evening. We had only one car so having the ability to walk to school and to the grocery store became a necessity not only for us, but so many others who shopped and attended church and schools in their neighborhood. After a few days in our new neighborhood, we discovered the "little store," only three blocks away from our home, again in the center of the neighborhood activities. The first time I walked into the little store I was warmly greeted by the cashier who immediately inquired of my name and where we lived and whose home we bought. Upon entering I also heard the doors creak and the floors squeak and the sounds of neighbors visiting and that new smell which now, after 30 years, continues to remind me of the little store whenever I have the delightful opportunity to experience it, and even to this day, it takes me back to a time in my life that was sometimes difficult but a very happy time for our family. It was a time of much more innocence and with little or no change. The biggest change was the changing of the leaves on those tree-lined streets. We have gone back to visit this little store after so many years and things are very much the same. Neighbors still gather to visit, children are still buying their penny candy and charging it on their parent's account, and we were again greeted by the cashier with the same inquiring question of where we lived and whose house we purchased. Things didn't seem to change much except for the table and chairs outside which allowed their valued customers to sit and visit a while. Recently, in Lindon we had a huge change take place that has affected so many of us, the closing of Allen's Grocery Store. We didn't see it coming anymore than the employees did. I can't help but think of what more I could have done to keep that store open just as the closing of Smith's grocery in Pleasant Grove made me regret not patronizing both more. I had planned in my later years of always having Allen's grocery available to be able to walk to if I was no longer able to drive. These kinds of changes do not send me the message of progress, they are sent to me with a bit of fear attached. So, if the world says change has to take place in order to progress, I think I prefer not to progress in that way. I loved being greeted with a hello and called by name at the little store. I loved that my children could walk safely to the little store to buy penny candy and put it on the LeMone account. I loved that every Christmas we had a Christmas home tour in our neighborhood to raise thousands of dollars for the PTA and did so without fear. I loved that we could walk as a family with our dog along the tree-lined streets and not worry. I loved that our children could safely walk to school and home. I loved that our neighbors attended church every Sunday willingly. This is what the lack of change did for our family. |