It was called RubyAnna’s, after my mother.
This store was in the middle of our small growing town. It was filled with unique gifts, in this converted 1959 home, to a gift shop. I remember the 100+ hours we all did of pulling old wallpaper and trim off. The love that went into it.
It was my passion to fill the need in this town we lived in, with a lovely gift shop along with a way to get to know my neighbors. I even dreamt of building this store to be a chain store, one day.
All that dreaming came to a screeching halt (as my mother would have said) when the domino of life’s roller coaster of happenings, came slamming down. One upon another, upon another.
My niece Laura was in a severe accident. She was like another daughter, she spent a lot of time over at our home.
The bank gave us our walking papers.
The hormones kicked in and anxiety would set up camp. In my jumbled up mind, at that time, I would cry at the drop of a pin. A family friend told me to pull it together, or I would scare off customers.
I needed something but didn’t know what. My energy was drained daily. Even before I rolled out of bed.
Running the store on an empty tank of energy, having 6 kids in their teens and we all were dealing in our own way, with losing the Laura, we knew and loved. It was a roller coaster or challenges, in that alone.
My mind and body wanted to slam shut and down. Stop anything to deal with thinking. I didn’t even want to get out of bed.
I had a bumpy ride to get my mind, to not go into overdrive. I ended up on prescriptions that numbed me down and had their horrific side effects. On my best days, I was Eeyore. 
I had been using these products, from this company before but never dreamt they could be my solution to my current challenges.
A cousin kept after me to give the companies products a try. I was too embarrassed to tell her I couldn’t. Afford. Them.
Finally to get her off my back, I bought and tried them.
There was no going back.
I found the sunshine ☀️ I had been so longing for, for so long. I was afraid it would disappear. I woke up one day, realized it had been 3+ years + I hadn’t fallen back.
It broke the chains around my heart. I was finally free to share my past. I realized I could share my story.
I cannot say how many lives my story has touched. But I can say I have shared my story, to give hope to another soul seeking that release - from those chains holding them down to whatever fear, is inside them.
For this hope, that came in a drop of oil, I am truly thankful to God for. It’s been a blessing to be on this side of that dark story and bring hope to others seeking it also. It’s now been over 9 years from the beginnings of that roller coaster.
🍃 May you soon be where I am. The seed of hope is planted.
xoxo ♥️ Sue
Here is a video clip of those days...just a glimpse intro the love we put into this gift shop. About 1/4 of the store is seen here -
https://youtu.be/2p2dR4gAPy8
Picture 1 is the store front with me and my two girls Kara and Kaiti Muir (Laura was in age, between them two)
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