My crew and I cruised through another holiday season with little to no fanfare. I was back to working full time now and in full recovery mode, both in business and in health. The last six years were the ultimate test in survival. I had a tremendous amount of support from my family and a tremendous amount of support from my vendors. It was now time to pay back the massive amount of bills, taxes and invoices that had been postponed or pushed aside in my absence. The holiday rush helped the situation a little but it would be up to me now to retake the helm with what I hoped would be a relapse free existence. I was still expected to be front and center every month at Dr. Dave’s office to monitor my blood counts. They still needed to improve and it would be some time until normalcy would be a reality. At least, I hoped it would. Fatigue and other maladies were still a regular part of my daily routine. While Gleevec did its job, it did a job on me. No time to whine.
I began obtaining all of the necessary permits and estimates for the new store on Cottman Avenue. This was a big job. I built my own stores so the costs for construction were always lower than the norm. Having the ability to GC my own job let me have control over my time between running the store and guiding/participating in the construction. The months between February and October of 2002 would be very busy. I would go from selling diamonds and gold to building partition walls, painting and coordinating my subs. Seven days a week. This constant movement exhausted me physically but helped me mentally. I had no time to dwell on the past few years. I could only move forward to the future as I watched every penny go from one store to the other. Lol, I was used to that though. This would be my sixth move in fourteen years. I could only hope that this move may be my final for a long time. The location was excellent. Twenty four hundred square feet of space, next door to a Hallmark Card and Gift store. A large shopping strip mall on a main road with great visibility. I was pretty psyched. As long as my health stayed in check, this would be my comeback.
The next eight months leading up to our grand opening in the new location were very eventful as expected. I added to the fray by jumping into more responsibility by helping coach Nick’s baseball team in Upper Moreland in the spring and then Joey’s first Mite ice hockey team at the Wintersports Royals club in the fall. My hands were full but my heart was even fuller. I was in heaven. Not the heaven that I had dreaded the past six years but the heaven that was being here for my family. The mental abyss that had plagued me inside for so long was diminishing with every swing of the bat. Every goal that was scored. Every smile that shined so brightly on my boys faces. I had so much to live for. But, I knew that. That’s what I fought for all of these years.
Time was flying and everything was falling into place. I have to admit it…I was good. The last few weeks before and right up to the grand opening were hectic as hell. The new sign was going up, the new counters all going in, all of the special lighting and new fixtures being installed. The finishing touches all mattered so much. I was buying like crazy too. I needed the inventory to match the size of the store. Diving deeper in debt was not unusual. Inventory is your lifeblood in the jewelry business. The opening would be heading right into the holiday season as I had engineered it to be. Advertising was ramped up, new employees were hired and everyone was working up to the last minute. We closed the Bustleton avenue location for three days to move my safes and office furniture. Two more days after to merchandise, train and organize. It was go time.
Once again, a rinse and repeat season! The new store was a huge success. Our customers loved the layout, the new merchandise and the new location. Business boomed, especially with the Hallmark Card store right next to us. Location, location, location. Things were good. Life was good. A lot going on. I could handle it. No pressure, no diamonds. Yep… but no remission.
Next up: Library Science