Hanging up the phone

I must admit I’m a little concerned for Springfield’s downtown businesses as they head into summer. Sure, with kids out of school visitors to the Lincoln sites will increase and give them a little cushion, but who is going to support them on a daily basis now that today marks my mom’s last day of work downtown in over 34 years?

Who’s going to keep pots of coffee and iced tea fresh at Andiamo?

What is Incredibly Delicious going to do with their extra macarons, croissants, loaves of multigrain bread and raspberry-filled vanilla cakes?

And perhaps most importantly, who is going to support the commission bonuses of meter maids in the blocks surrounding 6th street and Capitol Avenue if not my mom? So what if she has a parking pass for the lot at the corner? This woman has spent years forgetting to feed the meter so the public sector can benefit. It’s just one example of her unwavering support of her local community over the years.

You see, after 34 years working for the State of Illinois, my mom is hanging up her phone. Sure, she’s moving on to bigger and better things, but in all the pension and retirement talks, I think we forget to see the economic impact that her pocket and purse-stored cash flow has on downtown businesses.

But you’ll see it at the Wednesday morning farmer’s market when you pass a solemn tomato seller who misses her best customer. You’ll see it in the eyes of her former co-workers when they go hungry for weeks on end in search of a breakfast quiche, or blueberry scones, or bread pudding. And you’ll likely see it from a big guy named Murf who will do everything in his power to buy up all the Starbucks via and sweet n’ low packets that downtown has to offer in the short month he has left before joining his wife for the next chapter.

A chapter that likely still involves a lot of visits to downtown Springfield (and hopefully a few to Florida).

Congratulations to my mom on her last day of work and a well-deserved retirement! You’ve set a great example for working moms and we are so grateful for all of your years of hard work and sacrifice so that we could grow into the daughters you hoped we would be.

p.s. I hope we did grow into the daughters you hoped we would be. And happy early Mother’s Day lest I forget next week 🙂