My Last Week as a Retailer

I'm sitting in my boutique in Woodland Hills, getting ready to write finis to a path I started down 23 years ago. Like many career paths, I stumbled on retail with no intention of it becoming a grand passion. And actually it never became that, even though I grew the business in New York to four stores and created a sweet little place here in the Valley. What I was passionate about were the people I came to know over the years and the symbiosis of a ladies clothing store and my true passion, women's health issues. Particularly breast cancer, because I am a survivor and I have daughters and granddaughters that I want to shield from my own experiences.

Next weekend my husband and I will pack up Boku and put it in storage, and end a chapter of my life that had it's good times and very bad times. As always, Bob has my back and is there no matter what. He and my children have been the wind beneath my wings for all this time.

One's identity becomes wrapped up in what one does for a living. People ask you what you do, not who you are. There are many people walking around these days not knowing how to describe themselves any longer because they lost their job or closed their business. I always tell them about the "door".

Imagine that there are a series of doors one must pass through in one's lifetime. The doors represent a spatial or relationship change,a shift in priorities, some thing new and different. If you fear the next door in your life rather than embracing the challenge it represents, you will never fully experience the joy that life can hold.

I have been facing a door for many months as I pondered what to do with my Boku, but I have had no fear of what lies beyond the door; I just knew it was going to be something wonderful. In fact, I conjured up a vision of a beautiful garden filled with all the people I love. Consequently, I have not suffered regret or anxiety; just a feeling of peace and anticipation.

I know that you and I will survive this moment and this day and that something wonderful is waiting. I promise you that is so.

Sharon