{"id":1082,"date":"2013-09-06T16:55:15","date_gmt":"2013-09-06T16:55:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kandynolesstevens.com\/?p=1082"},"modified":"2013-09-06T16:55:15","modified_gmt":"2013-09-06T16:55:15","slug":"everyone-needs-a-corner-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/?p=1082","title":{"rendered":"Everyone needs a corner station"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today marks the end of an era in my neighborhood, and I am not happy about it.\u00a0 We have lived in this town for a little under seventeen years, and this has been my gas station all through that time.\u00a0 Len\u2019s Southside has been the place where I began to go out of necessity.\u00a0 Who wants to pump gas in the middle of one of the worst winters on record with a precocious toddler on her hip while being 8 months pregnant?\u00a0 I know of no woman who would say yes to that scenario.<\/p>\n

Convenience. I admit it.\u00a0 My \u201crelationship\u201d with the father and son dynamic duo began as a mutually beneficial one.\u00a0 I needed gas, and they needed customers.\u00a0 Over the years however that relationship changed.\u00a0 It really had very little to do on my part (or the other beloved customers\u2019 parts either).\u00a0 It was the way these gentle men put service into service station.<\/p>\n

When you came to the corner of Greeley and West College Drive, you came home.\u00a0 Everyone was treated that way.\u00a0 The last full service station in our town was the place to come to fill more than just your tank. Over the years, we have swapped fishing and hunting tales.\u00a0 It is Minnesota after all; so, of course, we talked about the weather.\u00a0 We have\u00a0chatted about school, sports, and pigeons.\u00a0 The elder was so excited to learn that we raise them; because back in the day, he did too.<\/p>\n

On more than one occasion, my husband has accused me of frequenting the station because I like to \u201cflirt\u201d with older men.\u00a0\u00a0 But as he watched our \u201crelationship\u201d evolve, he began to refer to Len and Jeff as my dad and brother.\u00a0 No one chuckled more than my sweetie when I came home after buying a scooter and told of how my \u201cfamily\u201d at the station had chided me at least seven times \u201cto just be careful on that thing\u201d.<\/p>\n

Of course, the brotherly and fatherly \u201cinterference\u201d didn\u2019t stop there because I do have a tendency to push \u2018er to the limit on remembering to fill up.\u00a0 More than once I coasted in on fumes, guided along by angels\u2019 wings and several prayers – mine.\u00a0 Len would always just smile the knowing smile, and Jeff would slip in a \u201cWell you sure went a little far this time\u201d.<\/p>\n

When tragedy struck both families in different ways, our bond was forever solidified.\u00a0 We prayed for each other through the loss of a son and mother battling (and winning) with cancer.\u00a0 Hearing updates on her progress often brought me to tears, as I can only imagine watching my heart break did to theirs.<\/p>\n

Gardening was another love we shared.\u00a0 When \u201cMom\u201d wasn\u2019t able to\u00a0tend a\u00a0garden\u00a0during treatments, I would send my kiddos on a cycling mission to pedal the bounty from our garden down to the station.\u00a0 Today the last day of the shop being open, I couldn\u2019t help myself;\u00a0 I just had to bring them a basket of love.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/a>

Two of the finest gentlemen you will ever meet!<\/p><\/div>\n

I filled up my old van yesterday because, honestly, I am not the only one who will miss them, and I was afraid that they might run out of gas before today.\u00a0 There was a beautiful sign up in front thanking the family for 44 years of service.\u00a0 My littlest and I enjoyed cookies and lemonade on a sweltering day.\u00a0 She enjoyed the treats, while I reminisced about all the memories we have shared.<\/p>\n

When they showed me the proclamation, from the mayor, which was ceremoniously bestowed \u00a0earlier that morning, I started to cry.\u00a0 Tears of sadness \u2013 for the loss of tradition of serving others that truly made a mom and pop gas station a place of refuge.\u00a0 Tears of joy \u2013 for living in a town that took the time to recognize two of the sweetest men you could ever meet.\u00a0 Tears of pride \u2013 for two men who just feel like family, knowing in my heart that gentlemen like that are treasures indeed!<\/p>\n

Good luck on your next adventure! You will be missed!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today marks the end of an era in my neighborhood, and I am not happy about it.\u00a0 We have lived in this town for a little under seventeen years, and this has been my gas station all through that time.\u00a0 Len\u2019s Southside has been the place where I began to go out of necessity.\u00a0 Who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[18,752,201,239,753,380,388,412,754,569],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1082"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1082\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.realsweetgrace.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}