Thursday, December 3, 2009

end of an era

My friend Janice's vintage shop in Old City is closed for good starting this week. I don't know if she wil reopen again or take a long break from it altogether, but it is the end of an era.

The first time I went into Legacy I was 8 or 9 years old. We had been driving down Kingston Pike during the "grunge" era in the early 90's and my sister was obsessed with vintage shops and thrift stores. Our journey took us to a shop nestled in a dimly lit corridor, near a shoe repair shop. What I found there was not only a newly established love for vintage apparel and furnishings but also a long friendship that has outlived many other friendships I have had.

Legacy and Janice saw me through all the stages of my adolescent and adult life, including my growing pains, my marriage, and eventual divorce. I have changed so much over the past decade, yet for some reason there was always some sort of permanence existing with Legacy; no matter how much I changed, Legacy was always there, existing in some place that time forgot.

In a broader sense, it helped define who I am today. We are going to a party on Friday at the shop, although I am sure it will be practically empty. It is sad but necessary and I wish Janice the best of luck with her newfound freedom!





at Legacy in the Old City.

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