I hope they're okay . . .

We have customers that we see only once a year, yet after 25 years in business it seems like we know them pretty well. And some of the toddlers from our earliest days are married with their own kids . Others of our customers have gotten - how to say it? - older - so I worry about them if I don't see them. I'm thinking of one particular couple who have come to shop faithfully in late November for many many years. They would bring a list of everyone in their family, and usually managed to cross everyone off the list. Then they'd go for lunch at the Thai restaurant next door. The last few years, I've noticed them getting a little more shaky . . . and maybe a bit crotchety the way people do when they have physical problems . . . and they didn't come this year. It's strange to think I will probably never know what happens to them . . . Joie de Vivre was a constant in their lives . . . but things change, and of course, even though they liked to come here . . . we're just a store they shopped in. It might be the economy, but they must be in their 80s, so more likely its their health. I hope they're okay.