37 years ago my Papa opened Drake's House of Sleep, a family owned and operated business. At the time my Daddy lived in Colorado, but moved back to help with the business. The rest is history! Eventually my Papa retired and left my Daddy as President and Uncle as VP of the company. Now after 37 years they are forced to close the business due to lack of business. I have known this day was coming for a long time, but now that it's here, I am much more sad about it than I expected to be!
Yesterday I was out and about running an errand and my Daddy called and said it would be a good time to stop by the store since I may not get another chance to. As I was driving over there I thought to myself, " I am doing this for my Daddy and being a supportive daughter." When I left I realized it was for me!
I parked right in front of the building as usual, and headed through the front doors. This time walking in was different than any other time! The showroom was empty, not a single mattress in sight. SO different than what I usually saw! I walked in to see my Daddy working hard as usual cleaning the floors, and I was so sad! I was sad to think that for the last 37 years this has been my family's source of income, and this place felt like another home to me! He then took me back to the warehouse which was just as empty as the showroom floor...I can't explain how weird it felt to see this! I couldn't find any words to say, I just sat in awe! My visit only lasted about 10 minutes because I needed to get back to the littles and my Daddy had work he needed to get back to as well.
I got in my car and as I drove away the tears started coming...totally blindsided me! I thought of all the many memories I had at House of Sleep. When I was little my parents had different days off in order to be with Sara and I more. On Saturdays we would be with Mom usually out shopping. I remember always suggesting and sometimes begging to go have lunch at work with my Daddy. I thought going there was better than going out to eat somewhere! It was awesome I could see my Papa, Dad, Aunt, and Uncle all in one visit! I LOVED IT! I used to love to go upstairs to the offices when my Papa was there and watch him work away. He loved to pull out his money clip and show me all his money (which was a bunch of dollar bills!) I thought he was rich!
One of my favorite memories at House of Sleep is when the family got together there to make a video for my Aunt Sherri. She was the only sibling who never worked there due to the fact that she lived in Colorado. I believe it was for her 40th bday that we made the video...I could be wrong. Anyway, she is a workout instructor and in such great shape, so we all dressed up in work out gear and headed up to the store to film a video of us goofing off in the workout room at House of Sleep. I was in elementary school, but it was great cause we got to wear make up and some of my grandma's clothes! I'll never forget that day and being all together!
As a teenager when I thought I knew it all, I still loved to go visit my Daddy at work. He then started letting me drive the forklift, and Sara and I would have races with the mattress carts up and down the warehouse aisles. I remember telling my Daddy that I wanted to work at House of Sleep when I got older and he kept telling me that he would never let me do that, but in my own head I thought, "I'm gonna do it!" haha!
When I got older and married Ted I worked just down the street and once a week I would stop by to have lunch with my Daddy and Aunt. It was our Tuesday lunch day and one of my favorite days of the week. We would eat Taco Bell lots of the time and just catch up! Then, I had Scotty and I would still go up once a week for lunch. We would sit and wait for Scotty to do his next trick! Daddy would drive him around on the fork lift and I would sit back and take it all in. I still to this day have a pic of the 2 Scottys together on the forklift and it melts my heart!
This is just a fraction of all the memories that I have at Drake's House of Sleep. To most it was just a building, but to me it was a huge part of my life! This is why I couldn't stop the tears because I have MANY great memories there with my family, and I am so saddened to see the doors close for good. It won't be the same in so many different ways. I can only imagine what it feels like for my Papa and my family who worked there for so many years. Thank goodness for memories that I can have for a lifetime to tell my children about as they get older. Now all I can do is trust the Lord to provide for my family as they are out of a job now. I am having faith in Him that there is so much good that will come of this, even if we can't see it yet. I am praying for an easy transition for my family and that they will be able to trust in the Lord during this huge change as well. If you think of my family, please pray for them, what a difficult last few months it has been with this!
All I can say is, goodbyes really are never easy! I am thankful that the Lord gave our family 37 years of business there!
Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!
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