Borders in Our Lives

I have to admit I was surprised to hear the news that Borders filed bankruptcy last week and are closing 200 stores nationwide. Although, I was initially surprised, I understand how the Kindle and amazon.com have squashed much of their business driving them to such desperation. And, I have to admit, I am guilty of buying books off of amazon.com too, mostly because they offer the cheaper rate of the used version.

Our Local Store Still Open

Our entire family was relieved to find out that the Borders that we go to in Mission Valley was slated to stay open. We went there the weekend after the bankruptcy announcement and the store was full of people buzzing around looking at books and magazines and buying coffee from "Seattle's Best." The store seems to be busy every time we go there and, thus, the reason I was initially surprised of the announcement.

Went to Bookstore The Eve of His Birth
On the eve of my eldest son's birth, my husband and I were looking for something to keep us slightly occupied while we waited for our Sweet Pea to decide to come out of my womb; so we went down the hill to the Borders to pass some time. While we roamed the aisles of books, I started feeling very odd in deed and sat down in one of those big squishy chairs to wait for my husband to come back from perusing the books so we could go back home.

As we walked out of the store my husband saw someone he knew and, being the kind person that he is, didn't say anything about how his wife felt weird inside and needed to go home. So we stood in the parking lot and chatted with this gentlemen; he actually talked the entire time, something about a girl he liked, and I incessantly looked down at my watch while he perpetually talked. When we finally got home and into bed, that night my water broke and my son was born at 6am the next morning. I still walk by that squishy chair and that patch of parking lot where we stood talking to that guy and remember that time when I was laboring at Borders.

He Grew Up In the Store

It is funny that we were in a bookstore the eve of my son's birth because this son loves books. Even as a child he would sit in front of his bookshelf and look through those colorful books one at a time and leave a big mound of books next to him. He didn't really care about the toys in the room, just the books.


That same Borders is also the very one I would continue to take my son for the children's book reading and singing. The gal who read every week to this big group of kids, was so animated and fun, that I even started inviting my friends to it.

It is also the same bookstore that my husband took our son to the midnight release of Harry Potter #7, where people from all ages came as Rita Skeeter, Dobby, Sirius Black, and Dumbledore and they played trivial pursuit over the loud speaker and bleary eyed teens sat down in the corners of the store to read the new release.

As Time Goes By

Yes, this little boy is now 12 years old (well next month) and he still loves books and, yes, the Borders in Mission Valley is still his all time favorite store, even more than GameStop or Best Buys. This Borders is also the same one that my son goes to redeem his gift cards or to spend his allowance. He now has a large collection of precious books at home and he would rather have a book in hard back cover than in soft.

This weekend we went back to the store and it was bit of a rude awakening when my almost 12 year old didn't venture to the back corner where the children's section is located. He now keeps to the Young Adults section. He flits from here to there, from one aisle to another searching for his perfect next read.

We were sad to hear of the loss of 200 Borders in the nation, but we are also very delighted that our neighborhood store is staying put.

Has a bookstore or a library become part of your life? And, on a side note, do you own a Kindle? Happy Reading!