this morning #1860.

this morning, he was finally back in business. when dad suddenly died in early may, he shut the shop. pulled down the gates. walked away. future unknown. the shop was dad’s thing. tied to his being. community staple. a children’s book character. “butcher bill.” every day for decades, bill got up, went downtown & ran the shop. when high school ended, he said bye to dad. didn’t look back. had to. whenever he visited, he recalled why he’d been so eager to leave. it was about this town. its people. not dad. when dad passed, he fully expected to sell the shop. then the same folks who’d made life hell for him as a youth came out to pay tribute to dad. in that moment, in their faces, he knew. he simply couldn’t let the shop die too.