Back In the Day

Salida, Colorado



Every year my family and I go to a small mountain town in Colorado called Salida. I LOVE this town and if I ever leave my current living place, I will look into moving here. Mountains, trees, super cute houses and plenty of stuff to do. Every year we go to the small local book store called the Book Haven and also to a coffee shop called The Simmering Cup. I always by a book, usually a used one. This year I found a Mary Higgins Clark thriller! We sit in the coffee shop talking and people watching and just enjoy each others company.

This year was different.

I realized that one reason I enjoyed this trip so much was my step mom, Sandy. She, like myself, found joy in the simple pleasures of life and got excited with me about such little things. We sat in the coffee shop for hours and those are some of my favorite memories of her.

She passed away in October. Although I still enjoyed going to Salida and doing all the things we do, it just wasn't the same without her. To add to the void, it was her birthday that weekend. So what should have been a time celebrating and making memories, we were trying not to break down in such a public place.

I am thankful for my sister Molly being there with me. To partake in the annual events and adding a few new things to look forward to next year.

This picture was taken across the street from the coffee shop and used to be the side of the book store, but the book store moved across the street. I have always liked this wall, and have taken pictures of it before, but never have done anything with it. There are several of these walls around downtown.

Even though we were sad and missing Sandy, we had a lot of fun and I look forward to next year.

This is an old picture, taken about three years ago, but this was a time that the whole family was able to go. Ali isn't in this picture, but came the next day.