Good bye old friend

Early this year, I walked into my local card shop for the last time, not because of anything the owner did, but because my local card shop was closing, I walked in and he was packing everything up, a couple days later it was gone, 23 years of visiting, buying and trading, gone in the blink of an eye.  I never told the owner this but when I got home I cried like a little school girl, another piece of my childhood gone.  There are still shops around, but not like his, this guy had everything you could have ever wanted, and if you needed something if you looked hard enough it was there.  I started my visits in 1993, and out of his shop I pulled many, many beautiful cards, in 1993 a first day production of Mike Piazza, in 1997 a Tony Gywnn game jersey, in 2000 a Ty Cobb bat, but the real enjoyment if you need a set any year he had them.  If you needed commons he had them, old odd wax he had them, uncut sheet yes those too.   The industry did get a little expensive and I can only think that the over head plus product was a reflection of the hobby, I have always dreamed about opening my own hobby shop, what he had was my dream.   So if you have a local shop take the time to visit them,  because one day they will be gone, and my son's will never know what it was like to have that experience of buying a pack from a brick and mortar store like I did for 23 years.