Dear Reader,
Years ago I had to shut down a restaurant that I owned, so when a book club reader wrote saying that she had to shut down their family restaurant and she was having a hard time dealing with it, it was one of those times when I could honestly say, "I know how you feel."
I was a mess when I realized I was going to have to close my restaurant. Not only did I feel like the biggest loser in the city, I also owed money to suppliers and to the government and I was broke. So I wrote each one of them a letter and included $5.00 as my first payment; apologizing for the small amount, but emphasizing they would--without fail--get a payment from me on the first day of every month until the bill was paid. My intentions were honest, which must have come through in my letters because not one single supplier charged me interest. In fact, some of them sent letters thanking me--only the government caused me grief.
What a loser I was. Twenty-two years old, deep in debt, I felt like I might as well hang it up, because I'd never recover from this mistake. I was so miserable that for a few hours one afternoon, I actually sat in the hall closet with a quilt over my head.
Shutting down a business requires grieving. It's as if someone died, and in a way, a family member has. People understand the need to grieve when someone close to you dies, but when you suffer a loss like a business, or you didn't get the promotion that you'd been grooming yourself for all last year--it's a sad thing. Part of your dream is gone and before you can move on, you need to say goodbye in your own way.
"Grieving is a hard and lonely task," I told my reading friend.
There is a favorite quote of mine. I say it to myself when I feel lost and it always brings me a brief respite. I'm saying it out loud for you today:
"If I knew the way, I'd take you home."
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
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MUNDANITY (Fiction) by Jonathan Carreau
A young man in an alternate reality Earth moves into a new town and discovers how bigotry and economic inequality shape everything around him. He must learn how to navigate everything around him if he is to prosper in this new town. The town's name is shared with the title of the book, "Mundanity."
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