There’s so much significance to a single year–another birthday, a great vintage, a considerable amount of time, a young child’s entire lifetime, or a quarter of it or… a single point of reference. This is for me–for all of us–the one year anniversary of the loss of our first store.

It was weather similar to today, wet and warm with a breeze. The fire sirens were so constant–alarming–at 730 in the morning; I sat straight up in bed. And then the phone started ringing. As I ran out to get my phone from the car, I smelled the smoke… from 5 blocks away. I had to stay home because Isaac was asleep, and we thought it better to let Jordan go and assess. 10 minutes later I knew it was all gone. Then I didn’t want to go at all… like watching a loved one die. The smell was gruesome. To be honest, I went into that store only once after the fire; sometimes ignorance is preferable.

Three months after the fire we were open in a new and better location. The generosity of so many astounds us, and we remain humble and grateful. There were a couple of folks whose kindness made it possible for us to reopen quickly and dozens and dozens of others whose kindness saw us through the months we were closed. We thank you all so so much. The good news is our business is up over 10% and continues to grow. The Village is busier than ever and there is no question that Saugerties is flourishing despite all the craziness in the world right now. Amazing.