Marie and I became good friends after a call she had made to me asking for help. She wanted to sell some of her items and was having a hard time with it. So I reassured her it wasn’t going to be that bad and told her I would come to meet her in the coming week. That was the start of a friendship I wasn’t expecting but turned out to be exactly what her and I needed at the time. God is funny that way. As our friendship grew the stories and our life experiences were shared over bottomless cups of tea and often some yummy sweets. Marie was sick but couldn’t find answers as to why or what was wrong, so it wasn’t uncommon to find us cuddled under blankets on the couch chit chatting about things. That is where I learned that the one thing she didn’t get done, that she wanted to was .... yup you guessed it a thrift store called Déjà Vu.
Over the following few months her and I bantered back and fourth about the typical where is it going to be? How is it going to run, who is going to work it? And where is the money going to go.
Although I could see her declining in her health my wonderful team and I kept moving forward to make that last item on her list a reality. Marie hand picked some of her favourite items to add to the store for opening and made sure to get down there and help set up. Déjà Vu kept her focused on something while she was declining, it put a smile on her face and warmed her heart to know that she had started such a wonderful thing for her community.
If you stop into the store you will see a set of gold praying hands and I call those Marie’s hands of love. Marie my dear friend passed away only a few short weeks ago after being diagnosed with cancer. Although she is gone her spirit is with me in ever decision I make for the store and ever item that is placed in there.
I have been wanting to share this story with you all and finally put it into words. Thank you for the continuous support as we grow a community as big as Marie’s heart and spirit.
Love and miss you Marie 💕
Deja Vu is located at 2099 Dundas Street in Cardinal, Ontario.
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