As a child, who didn’t like to be tucked in? To this day I recall the night my grandfather tucked me in bed for the first time. It was during a transitional time in my childhood. My parents were divorcing and we got to go see my grandparents that Christmas. The bed was so tall. So tall he had to pick me up and put me in it. My grandfather was retired and a well known antique clock dealer in the Southwest so it was not unusual that in the room I slept that night there were no fewer than six antique grandfather clocks varying in size and make. As PawPaw concluded telling me the story of the “Man From Nantucket”, I pleaded with him to stop the pendulums of the monstrous clocks that night. The imposing tick tock of the clocks was too frightening for a six year old. Crazy the things we remember from our childhood.
PawPaw was always teaching me something. He loved the craftsmanship of early American antiques and especially antique clocks. At one time he had over 500 in his home and a “Clockshop” out back. I am so fortunate that a few of them hang on the walls of our home today. As I would sit on an old wooden box in his clockshop, he’d tell me stories and teach me the values that were important to him. In his adult life, he owned and operated one of the first Texaco gas stations in Dallas County. He taught me if I would treat someone with respect, look a person in the eye, and work hard at learning their name; those little things go a long way in building a relationship with folks. I could have never conceived that 40 years later, I try my best to do the very things he began teaching me that Christmas break.
So though many of you are in the woes of scripting your New Year’s Resolutions, hear me say, I am quite content to keep what I strive to accomplish from day one owning Eagle Hardware. I need not take time to ponder or procrastinate. It is simple, take care of the customer! That’s right; it’s all about doing my best to take care of you. If I can help you repair your leaking faucet with ease or explain how to de-worm your goat and you feel good about it, then I have done my job. If you think of Eagle Hardware for your nut, caulk, bag of feed, nail or glue before loading up and heading to one of the big box stores than I’m doing what I strive to do day in day out.
As I conclude, let me wish you a Happy New Year and a heartfelt thank you for the past one. Thank you for choosing to shop at Eagle Hardware. It is because of you that we are here, and we appreciate for you patronage. As always, if there is anything we can do to help, please let us know.
See you next time.