The Things You Miss

As summer winds down and most of our seasonal guests are leaving, or at least thinking about it, I want to tell them what they miss if they never venture into our small local shops. We all rely on the supermarkets and Walmart-type stores which have come into our community, and I am not one to rail against them because they serve a great need. I have to preface my story by saying a special wedding is taking place in our extended family.
Christa Grassi is marrying Mario Nocito, and as you read this they will be starting their years of “happily ever after.” Christi is the niece of my sister-in-law Terri Bickel Hall. Art and I have watched her grow from a young girl who lost her mother to cancer just as she was entering high school, to the beautiful, kind and loving woman she is today. I can only say to Mario, “You are marrying a real treasure.” Our best wishes to you both.
Back to my musings about our local shops. My mother-in-law Pauline wanted a new perm before going to the wedding. You have to know that Pauline is a very spry 93-year-old who has a full head of very dark (natural) brown hair. She made an appointment at Elena’s shop in Wildwood Crest. Since they know her, they made it at a time when they could pamper her and give her some enjoyable time away from her apartment.
Two-and-one-half hours after dropping Pauline off, I picked up a transformed woman who now had lovely curls but had also enjoyed coffee and banana bread, courtesy of the women who were doing her hair. They were treating her like a queen and brought her out to my car and even helped her down the steps as I drove up to meet her. I received instructions on how to help her comb out her style on Saturday and acted as if they were caring for their own beloved mother and grandmother. These are things you miss if you know us just by our summer verve.
Stay a little longer this year if you can, or come back during the winter and get to know us better. You will find very few of us are the rude “Shoobie Go Home” people.
On the same day that we went to Elena’s, we were also on the hunt for new shoes for Pauline to wear on Saturday for the wedding. For special occasion shoes, all locals know to go to Silens; they have been dying wedding shoes for decades. Pat Rasmussen, the proprietor, greeted us warmly at the door and turned us over to her capable assistants. They looked for just the right size and gave us plenty of time to make sure the heel height was safe for 93-year-old legs and feet to navigate in.
Again I felt as if the women were caring for their own family member. As I went out to bring the car around, they walked out with her and even brought a stool for her to sit on as my car approached.
You see what nice people we can be! Don’t miss the smaller more personal side of our county — we are after all a family resort — Stay a little longer and let us get to know you a little better. Guaranteed we’ll like each other.
PATRICIA HALL, the publisher’s wife
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