"Love Is The Music of Your Soul"

The light. Many of you know Cathy Jarrell, aka "the Vintage Lady". Her and I have been in this crazy business of ours for around twenty years. You really do fall in love with this business, regardless of how crazy it can be. Cathy's store over in Tustin caught on fire right before Christmas. She was there when it burned to the ground. Owning a store, I can only imagine how she must have felt to see something she loved so much go up in flames. I was so happy to be able to have room for her at Country Roads. Actually, if I had to I would have given up my own space to get Cathy to join my CR family. The little vignette above was one of the first that Cathy put together when she started setting up. To me, each and every time I walk by "the light" it is symbolic to me. It reminds me that when you really LOVE what you do, like myself and Cathy do, you carry on. Day by day, week by week, month by month, and year by year, no matter what! Cathy comes to Country Roads and she works. She puts together these beautiful displays and vignettes, and never once to you see her discouraged, nor do you see her angry that the fire happened. Nope, she comes to Country Roads and works on her new beginnings with wonderful merchandise and a smile on her face! Here are a few of Cathy's latest!

I may have to buy this little plaque of Cathy's. Think about those words, really think about them. When you love what you do, the soul is content, it is happy, it is fulfilled! Today Cathy came up with two of her old customers from the Tustin store. One bought something small, and Cathy was carrying a birdcage and told me that she was "giving" this to the customer because the one the customer had bought prior to the fire and had left it at Cathy's store was destroyed in the fire. Here is Cathy starting over, and here is a woman, I'm guessing, that has asked Cathy to replace the one that was lost in the fire. Cathy had a big ole smile on her face, thanked the ladies for coming in and off she went back to her new "store"! Random things have always happened to me and my family. But they always turn out to be "good" random things. I learn something every, single day from random things! I'm SO grateful I was able to open a door for Cathy when hers closed, and I'm also grateful to have her be a part of my Country Roads family. It is really true, "love IS the music of the soul"! Come by and see us at Country Roads, sometimes that music of the soul just might be a bit contagious!