I have awful news. Okay, well, maybe not awful awful. It could have been worse, but I'm still pretty distraught.
You all know the bookstore here in Ottawa that I talk about constantly, right? It's called The Gilded Edge, and as far as I'm concerned, it's the greatest place on earth. My parents started taking me there as a kid, and even today, it's the only place I'll buy books. The owners there are great. Even if they don't have a particular book, they'll order it for you.
Anyway, I've been kind of worried about what would happen to the place for a while. The owners are an elderly married couple who have been operating the place for like fifty years or something like that, and they're getting a lot older. I was terrified that they were going to close the place, and then what would I do. Buy books off Amazon!!!??
I went in today and started chatting with the wife, and she said their retiring.
Right away, my stomach plummeted. I was sure she was about to tell me that they were closing the place, but no, that's not what she said. Are you all ready for the plot twist of the century?
Shane. Fucking. Hollander is taking over my favorite bookshop.
Okay. Let me back up because I realize that most people following my book blog will have no idea who Shane Hollander is. Believe me, I wish I didn't know who he was.
Basically, he's this hockey player who is supposedly one of the greatest hockey players in a generation or whatever. He plays for Montreal, but Ottawa is his hometown, which means he's insanely popular here. (It probably doesn't help that our own team is so shit.)
A couple months ago, though, he had a career-ending injury. It was honestly wild guys because I know some people who acted like he'd died. I mean, I'm sorry for him, but he's not dead.
I do get that having your career end suddenly like that must be hard though, so it makes sense that he needs something else to do with his time. But I didn't expect him to take over my favorite bookstore!
You see, it turns out that the kindly old couple who I've known at this bookstore my whole life? THEY'RE SHANE HOLLANDER'S GRANDPARENTS!!!!
I nearly shit myself when she told me that. They've never mentioned it before, but she said it so casually while talking to me. She said that they'd been considering retirement for a while, and Shane is apparently bored out of his mind at home (those were her words), so they decided he'd take over the shop to give him something to do.
I didn't know how to react, so I just smiled and nodded and told her that I hope she enjoyed retirement. And they really do deserve that. They've worked so hard on this place. I hope it doesn't go to hell in a handbasket now. I want to trust the owners. They love this shop, and I know they want what's best for it. Doesn't everyone have blind spots where their grandchildren are concerned though? I mean, does Shane Hollander even read????
Anyway, I wound up buying more books than I planned to because the whole thing rattled me and I got scared that the place will close soon and yeah… I feel a little distraught even though I know that's probably ridiculous, but The Gilded Edge is my favorite place in the world. I don't want to lose it.